


Long Shot

by MoonPhasing



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Sports
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:22:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27461899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonPhasing/pseuds/MoonPhasing
Summary: Sora Takenouchi was the captain of her small-town college team. Upon accepting an offer from a team from a large Tokyo university, Sora expects her life to change. Her new life in Tokyo is quick, but she is slow to trust anyone... Especially him.
Relationships: Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Tachikawa Mimi, Takenouchi Sora & Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya, Takenouchi Sora/Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Decisions

Chapter 1: Decisions

“Open!” A brunette yelled, the soccer ball rolling along the deep, green grass before she stopped it with the inside of her right foot, “Nice pass!” She yelled before sending the ball for a cross right in front of the opponents goal. A defender from the opposite team knocked the ball out, passing it right to Sora Takenouchi’s deep blue cleats.

Winding her left leg back, Sora kicked the ball with all of her power. The goal keeper leaped, cursing as the ball slid through her fingers and hit the back of the net with a loud swoosh. Sora smiled, one of the forwards, Chels, running to grasp her captain in a tight, excited hug.

“Yes! Sora!” The women’s giggles were interrupted with heavy breaths as they tried to catch their breath before the game resume, “You always come in clutch!”

Sora chuckled, shaking her head as she resumed her position as center midfield, “I owe it to the team. It’s more than just me.”“Ew,” Shira, a center forward, said, “Stop being humble. You know we hate that.” She rolled her eyes playfully at the redhead before the referee blew the whistle to start the game again. The game continued for a few more minutes before ending, Sora’s small team barely winning with a 2-1 final score.

“That was close,” Coach Jin said, shaking his head, “You guys need to tighten up on your finishing or we aren’t going to make it that far next season…” His eyes landed on Sora, “Great work, captain. We need to find other ways to get the ball in the net that don’t involve a heavily marked Sora, right team?”

“Right!” The team said before saying their goodbyes and heading their opposite ways.

Sora took a deep breath. The team had just played their final game of the college season. She attended a small college. Sora was good enough to play at a college in a larger city, but she didn’t mind the Lowkey atmosphere of her hometown. She glanced towards the horizon, the sun beginning to fall behind the large mountains.

“Last game?” Sora’s mom asked, making the redhead roll her eyes in annoyance. Sora always thought her mother was counting down the days to her last soccer game.

“No, mom,” she sighed, “I’ll be playing for much longer. Too bad.” She chuckled as her mother’s face crinkled in frustration.

“Why not marry and work in the floral business with me?” Toshiko said. Toshiko and Sora’s dad were once business partners. The two divorced, Sora’s father leaving the two with nothing but a crumbling business. Toshiko worked endless nights to make just enough to pay and Sora watched the rollercoaster of her mother’s emotional breakdown and betrayal over the years… And Sora has yet to forgive him or any man since then. In fact, Sora swore to herself she would never date, let alone marry, because she feared being left like her mother and her were.

Sora went to reply. Her and her mother have had this talk many many times… And Sora was more than tired of it, “Mom, please. Not today… I’m going to do what makes me happy… Okay?” Sora gave her a smile, her mother smiling back.

“Takenouchi?” A woman’s voice sounded from behind her. Sora turned as she took a drink from her water.

“Yes?” Sora’s eyes scanned the two women that stood in front of her. Her eyes stopped on the shield on the left of their t-shirts. Senshu University… What are they doing here? The older woman wore a deep blue shirt with the orange shield for Senshu. Her blonde hair was braided down her back, a few strands shaping around her jawline. The other seemed to be Sora’s age. She smiled at Sora, her green eyes shining with excitement.

Sora almost jumped in surprise as the younger woman stuck her hand out eagerly, “Eri! Captain at Senshu University,” Sora grasped her hand and shook it, smiling nervously, “It was so nice getting to watch you play. I’ve been trying to come see you since you scored those three goals at last year’s finals.”

The older woman smirked, “Eri, don’t scare her off. I haven’t even told her why we decided to come. I’m Yoko, the coach of Senshu’s women’s soccer team.”

Sora hoped the two women didn’t notice the color draining from her face from disbelief. Oh my god. It’s Yoko. THE Yoko. Sora’s first favorite player was Yoko. She could only dream of ever meeting her, let alone having her come to watch her play. She wondered why the woman looked familiar.

“Sora,” Sora said shakily, trying to hide her excitement, “Sora Takenouchi. I’m happy you enjoyed the game.” She gave them a smile, the women mirroring her happiness.

“It was a true pleasure,” Eri said, “That last goal was insane. Not many can shoot outside the eighteen with that much power and accuracy… And left footed?!”

Sora blushed, waving her hand, “No no… It was just lucky! I…”

“They said you were humble,” Yoko said with a chuckle, “You have talent… And I think with players who can keep up, you can be deadly.”

Sora’s mind began to fly at a million miles per minute. She had just finished her second year at the small university. _Transferring would be tough… But what if she offers you a place on the team? No.. Well… No no…_

“We wanted to offer you a place on the team. Our current center midfielder could use a substitute… And we could use more of that firepower,” Yoko smiled, her tone strong and authoritative.

Sora blinked slowly, “M-Me? Playing for Senshu? I…”Eri laughed, her smile reassuring, “Oh my gosh stop. With you on the field we could have so many combination plays! The way you send the ball to your players and your speed? We’d be unstoppable.” Yoko nodded to agree.

“I… This… I mean… Yes I’d love to but I have to make some arrangements and talk to my mother about it and…” Sora’s words tapered off as her mother moved to stand beside her. The woman sighed, nodding.

“She’ll go. It’s what she is meant to do,” Toshiko smiled at her daughter, “I’ll be okay, little bird. Go live your dream! Get out of this small town.”

Sora raised an eyebrow. Her mother had never spoken to her like this, let alone pushed for her to leave the small town, “Wh-What? Mom, are you okay?”

“Psh,” Toshiko rolled her eyes, “I’m fine. We’ll make the necessary arrangements. Thank you for believing in my daughter.”

Eri gasped excitedly, “Really? Oh I’m so excited! You’re going to do great. We’ll be in touch.”Yoko smirked, “Looking forward to working with you, Sora.”

“You too…” Sora watched as the two women walked off before turning to her mother, “Okay what gives. You’re just going to let me go like that?” Sora smiled softly, hoping her mom didn’t take her excitement to play for the university as excitement to leave her home.

“Oh, Sora,” her mom chuckled, “Of course I want you to stay… But I can tell it’s not what you want. What kind of mother would I be if I withheld your dreams from you?”

Sora beamed at her mother, squealing in excitement before she pulled her into a tight hug, “Oh mom thank you for the support! Really!”

“Yes yes…” Toshiko sighed, “Now get off you smell like soccer.”

———

Sora dropped her soccer bag next to her shoes in the entry way. “How do I tell the team,” Sora said. The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. She has played with these women since middle school… She grew up with them.

“Something wrong?” Toshiko asked as walked through the door after Sora. Sora took a deep breath, “How do I tell my team?”

Toshiko smiled, “Oh I’m sure they’ll understand, Sora. This is a huge opportunity for you.” She smiled reassuringly at her daughter as Sora began to pace through the hall, “Stop pacing, little bird. All will work out.”

Sora flashed her mom a nervous smile, “Sure. You’re right.” Sora’s phone vibrated in the pocket of her Adidas sweatpants.

Group Chat - The Team:  
 _Shira: Congrats, Captain!_

_Ri: We saw you talking to Yoko! We’re over the moon happy for you!_

_Sora: Really? I don’t know, guys… I’m not even sure if I can keep up with those girls_

_Shira: Humble alert._

Sora smiled at her phone, the nerves of having to leave the team for another forgotten.

**-4 months later-**

“Tokyo.” A deep voice announced as the train came to a slow stop.

“Well,” Toshiko said as her and Sora hurried off of the train, “This is us!” They both pulled two suitcase, Sora trying to only bring the necessities, “Do you have the address of you apartment?”

Sora and Toshiko stepped to the side to avoid the flow of people getting on and off the trains. The university offered Sora a fully-payed scholarship and she gladly accepted. “It’s a five-minute walk. Think we can make it?” She smiled at her mom as she showed her the map on her phone screen.

Toshiko nodded, “I can use some walking after sitting on busses and trains for that long.” The two women made their way through the station, gasping in surprise as they stepped outside.

“I knew it was going to be big but…” Sora said, chuckling, “I mean no mountains and lakes here, right?” The street in front of them was busy with cars, the sidewalks flooding with people. Horns and conversations echoed off of the walls of the tall buildings. Her mother smiled as the two of them made their way through the bustling, crowded streets.

Sora stopped in front of the entrance of a tall building, “The map says we’re here…” Her mother stopped, reading the sign over the front glass door.

“Seems right. Well, little bird, are you ready?” She asked, frowning as she noticed that a keycard was needed to enter, “Well, I guess once we figure out a way to get in.”

The two stood in silence, Sora breaking in a small chuckle at the predicament. “I have no idea what to do…”

Two men and a woman walked up to the door. The tallest man broke away from the group to quickly swipe a key card. He wore dark jeans and a loose t-shirt that hung from his broad frame. The other man, who had the blondest hair Sora had ever seen, opened the door. The blonde wore a grey button up and jeans. The woman gave him a smile as she walked in and the blonde followed, her brunette hair tied up in a dainty ponytail. She wore a loose t-shirt dress. Sora found herself taking notes, the other woman’s outfit seemed effortless.

The other man, who had the messiest hair Sora had ever seen, moved quick and caught the door before it closed, “Thanks for holding it for me, asshole,” He mumbled to the blonde before walking in.

“Shit,” Toshiko said, “We should’ve snuck in with the-” 

“You ladies need in?” The tall brunette returned, propping the door open, “Sorry. Apparently we’re terrible at holding the door open for people here…”

“Fuck off, Taichi,” a voice said from inside. The brunette rolled his eyes as he glanced back into the building, “I mean C’mon. Chivalry means nothing to you? I’m honestly hurt you didn’t even think about holding it open for me. I was the only one for you before Mimi captured you in her grasp, Yamato.”

“Tai I don’t have the patience for this today,” the blonde, Yamato, replied.

Sora glanced at her mom, as the men bickered.

“What? Am I too much for you now? Is this officially the end for-”

“Thanks,” Sora said as she grabbed the door handled, interrupting the brunette, who’s name she came to the conclusion was Taichi, before her and her mother were delayed any longer.

“Oh,” Taichi said, giving her a lopsided grin, “Don’t mention it.” He nodded at Toshiko before disappearing into the building.

“Welcome to Tokyo, I guess,” Toshiko winked at her daughter as the two entered the building to grab the keys to Sora’s apartment.

The two made their way up to the third floor. “Apartment 327… Here it is,” Toshkio said excitedly. Sora smiled, unlocking the dark blue door to her new apartment. The apartment was a comfortable size for Sora, more space than she could have ever hoped for in her small town. The living room was furnished, three large windows opening to a balcony on the back wall.

“They really want to impress you,” Toshiko said, followed by a low whistle as she stepped into the bedroom. Sora chuckled as she joined her mom, “Yeah it’s way more than anything I was expecting…”

Sora sighed as she lied down onto the bed, “Is this the right decision, mom?”

Toshiko smiled softly as she opened a window in the bedroom, “We can’t say yet, Sora. It’s too soon,” She sat on the edge of the bed, tucking a piece of Sora’s hair behind her ear, “But I’m proud. I never made life changing decisions like this and I wonder everyday how different my life would have been if I did.” Toshiko took a deep breath, “You inspire me. You’re going to be great here.”

Sora closed her eyes, nodding, “I trust you.”  
“Just stay away from the boys,” Toshiko said, earning a smirk from Sora, “They ruin everything.”

“Yes, mom. I know,” Sora said, pushing up from the bed to begin unpacking.


	2. Ego

Chapter 2: Ego

Taichi Kamiya pressed his fingers to his temples as his two best friends flirted in the living room of his apartment. He sighed, trying to hold back a gag of disgust as Mimi fed a strawberry to Yamato.

“Do you two have to do that on my couch? In my space?” Tai said as he made his way to the fridge. He grabbed a half-eaten sandwich, practically inhaling the remaining half before chugging a glass of water.

“Oh, Taichi,” Mimi said, Tai could practically hear the smirk on her face, “Just because you ruined things with Rhya doesn’t mean other people don’t get to be romantic.”

“I didn’t ruin things she just…” He rolled his eyes, tired of explaining himself, “This isn’t romantic, Mimi. This is disgusting.” He made his way to the couch, forcing his way between them as he sat, “So, what’re we watching tonight?”

Yamato shrugged as he grabbed the remote to the tv. He pressed the power button, his face twisting from confusion as the tv screen didn’t light up. “Your remote is out of batteries,” Yamato glanced at Tai, “Do you have any.”

Tai clicked his tongue, “You’re never going to believe this…”

“You don’t have batteries,” Yamato said, his voice filled with slight annoyance.

Tai held his hands up defensively, “No it’s not that I don’t have batteries… I’ve just been switching the batteries between the remote and the fire alarm.” The fire alarm gave a perfectly timed beep, signaling new batteries were needed. Yamato took a deep breath, letting the air out of his lungs as he stood to press the power button on the side of the television.

“Taichi how you function in day-to-day life is beyond me,” Yamato said, giving the button another frustrated press as the TV remained off, “Okay what the hell.”

Tai chuckled nervously, “I kind of broke… The power button…” Yamato slowly turned to look at his friend. “I dropped the TV when I was moving in,” Tai said, earning him a dramatic groan from Mimi.

“I guess we could just talk and hang out instead,” Mimi said, smiling as she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest to settle into the couch.

Tai shook his head, “Oh absolutely not I’m not going to listen to you two tell each other how grateful you are to be together for the next four hours. I’d rather eat a bowl of nails.”

“You really are jealous that I’m dating him and you’re not,” Mimi said, beyond entertained with Tai’s new attitude towards dating.

“Finally you understand,” Tai said sarcastically, patting Mimi’s knee with his hand.

Yamato sat back down on the couch, “You can finally tell us about the Rhya situation. We’ve been curious about how your first ‘long’ relationship ended.”

Tai’s relationship with Rhya was the first of Tai’s relationships to make it past one month. He usually ended things when he thought the girl he was dating was getting too attached. Yamato was similar, until him and Mimi shared a drunken night and realized they were soulmates.

“You guys don’t want to hear about that,” Tai said, waving off the conversation topic with his hand. He glanced between his friends, their gazes not leaving his face. He swallowed nervously and cleared his throat, “Uhhh okay… Rhya… Um…” He stuttered. Tai hated that this is how he got over her, “She cheated on me.”

Mimi blinked slowly, processing the words, “I’m sorry… She what?!”

Tai nodded in agreement, “Cheated? On me? I know. Hard to believe ANYONE would cheat on this. I happen to be a catch.” That earned him a smack in the back from Yamato.

“Now is not the time for your ego to take over,” Yamato muttered, regretting his smack.

“I mean,” Mimi said slowly. She wasn’t sure how to help Tai and give him support in this type of situation, “Are you okay?”

Tai shrugged, “I think so… She just started dating someone else about four months in… Told me my ego was driving her to drink… and um… Yeah anyway… Trust issues team am I right?” He held up his hand, hoping for a high five from Yamato who had also been cheated on within the past year.

“I’m not giving you a high five,” Yamato said.

“Fine I didn’t want it anyway,” Tai said, pulling his hand away.

Tai wouldn’t admit it, but he really enjoyed his relationship with Rhya. She was the first girl to give him butterflies. The first girl he actually looked forward to hanging out with. The first girl he wanted to give everything too if it would make her happy… And she still cheated on him.

The brunette sighed as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, “I’m fine guys. Really. I just won’t date anymore. Ever again.”

Yamato and Mimi exchanged a glance. They knew him too well to know that he wasn’t as okay as he was leading on.

Tai was always the rock of the group. The trio grew up together and were practically inseparable. It was pure luck that they had ended up at the same college. Mimi studied abroad for a year but decided it wasn’t for her. Yamato stayed because he enjoyed living in Tokyo. Tai stayed for soccer.

The university had the top soccer program in the district and attending was Tai’s best chance for being recruited to a professional team. He was always great at soccer, and everything he puts his mind too. Though being talented has often gotten him far, it has also given him a huge ego that has gotten him into trouble.

He still wasn’t sure what Rhya meant about his ego. Yes, he was competitive. Yes, he cared more about his physique and worked hard to stay strong. But she should have understood that that was his life, right? She was dating the man who held the record for most goals scored in a season for the past two years. Shouldn’t she have been proud?

“I drove her away, huh,” Tai muttered against his hands.

Mimi shook her head, “What gives you that idea? There’s never an excuse to cheat, Taichi. She should’ve just broken up with you if she wasn’t feeling it anymore.”

“I just thought she was different, you know? Things felt different with her,” He stood, sighing as he returned to the fridge and grabbed an apple.

“She did say I cared about myself too much,” Tai said as he took a bite, “Which I kind of have to if I want to stay at the top of my game. Cmon. Waste of talent if I ever gave up even just a little.”

Yamato sighed, “See I start to feel for you and then you bring up how,” Yamato cleared his throat and imitated Tai’s voice the best he could, “Insanely talented you are.” Yamato shook his head, “Maybe she wanted something you just couldn’t give.”

“See!” Tai said loudly, “And I thought I was giving her everything.” He shrugged.

Mimi chuckled, “Taichi, you just love yourself too much. Maybe one day you’ll know love like Yamato and I do.” Mimi pouted playfully before covering Yamato’s cheek in kisses.

What Mimi said hit a nerve. Tai’s own mom had yelled at him about that when his younger sister had gotten sick during his childhood. He did his best to not let that get in the way, but he found it easier to take care of himself before others.

Tai groaned, “Good god I need to get batteries for the remote.” He threw the core of his eaten apple into the bin as he grabbed his keys.

“Wait are you leaving?” Mimi asked.

“I’m going to grab batteries. I need some air. Please don’t do anything nasty on my couch,” Tai said as he quickly walked out into the hall.

~

Tai tossed the batteries in the air as he whistled on his walk back to his apartment complex. The walk cleared his mind just as he planned and he was more than ready to settle in with Mimi and Yamato and watch a movie.

As he got closer to the building he noticed a familiar flash of red hair standing outside of the front doors. He walked closer, smirking as he heard her mumbling to herself about the keycards.

“C’mon,” she muttered, swiping her card again. Tai stood back and watched her struggle a few more times. “Fuck. I’m too tired for this c’moooon,” she swiped it one more time before letting out a long, frustrated breath.

Tai smirked to himself as he walked up to her, her back turned. “You have to give it a day to be processed,” he said as he leaned over her and swiped his own card, his arm brushing her shoulder. _New girl in the building. Charm on._ Maybe this would get Rhya off of his mind.

She jumped in surprise, her arm automatically swinging towards the body that pressed too closely to hers. Tai barely missed her reflexive slap. “Shit you scared me.” She took a quick breath, “Oh, it’s you again.”

“Yeah me again,” he grabbed the door handle, opening it for her, “Your personal doorman.” She gave him a quick, closed lip smile before walking into the building, “And you’re welcome.” _Great. Not polite where she’s from?_

He rolled his eyes. Tai was not in the mood to deal with a woman with attitude. He cursed to himself as he saw her standing and waiting at the exact elevator he needed. He stepped up next to her, his gaze watching as the numbers counted down above the elevator.

“Are you sure you just aren’t following me?” The redhead said next to him. Tai eyed her, her own gaze was glued to the numbers.

“Absolutely not,” he muttered, the elevator ding saving him from explaining himself and his need for batteries. The doors opened and the woman walked in quickly and Tai followed. He went to press his floor, smirking as he saw it was already surrounded by a red light.

“I promise I’m on the third floor too. I wouldn’t dream of taking up more of your time,” he said as he stood towards the back of the elevator next to her.

She finally looked at him. He did a double take, clearing his throat in hopes that she didn’t notice. He blamed it on the terrible lighting in the elevator, but the woman who currently had him pinned under her gaze was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

He turned his head, their gazes meeting before he let himself quickly take her in. She was shorter than he thought. She radiates a confidence that would make people think she was over six foot. Her red hair perfectly framed her features and her eyes… He noted the tan on her legs. Her shins were lighter than her knees and thighs.

“Is that a shinguard tan?” He smirked. The woman crossed her arms before replying.

“I really love it when men I don’t know check my legs out in an elevator. Truly,” she eyed him and he stared back out of surprise.

He heard her take a deep breath, “Sorry,” she said, “Yes, it’s a shinguard tan.”

“Cool do you play? I play for the university so it’s always cool to meet others,” he said, hoping she would look at him so he could see her eyes again, “I haven’t seen you on the women’s team so…”

The elevator stopped and opened to the third floor. The woman walked out quickly, Tai following close behind.

“I’m Taichi, you can call me Tai. Most people do,” he said as he tried to keep up with her quick strides.  
She stopped in front of a door, Tai smirking as he stopped in front of his across the hall, “Oh, well you can actually call me Tai your lovely neighbor if you want to.”

He could’ve sworn she rolled her eyes, “I don’t want to, but thanks for letting me into the building.” Before he could say his goodbye and get her name, the woman slipped into her apartment followed by the click of the lock.

Tai stared at her door, swallowing nervously as he felt butterflies fill his stomach.


	3. Bewitching

Chapter 3: Bewitching

“Good first practice, guys,” Hitoshi, the coach of the men’s team said. He stood tall, his hands on his hips as he watched the men breathing heavily as they caught their breath. He smirked, “Remember, I always go easy on you all on the first day.”

A blonde man was the first to stand up. He stretched his arms above his head, groaning as oxygen filled his lungs. “Jeez, Tai,” he said to the man standing next to him, “You didn’t have to elbow me like that towards the end.” The man rubbed his side, chuckling, “Always so competitive.”

Tai shook his head, his thumb swiping across his forehead to collect any sweat, “Sorry, Akio. I just needed one last goal before practice ended.” He let out a long sigh, his heart rate finally decreasing back to resting.

“You know how he is, Akio,” A man with black hair said, smirking as he gave Tai a small smack on his back, “Always has to be one ahead of us.”

“Hey,” Tai said, rubbing his back, “I didn’t mean for my elbow to land that hard, Nori.”

Nori, the captain of the team, chuckled in response, “I know, Tai. I just can’t have you hurting the co-captain on the first day back.” Akio blushed, he had just been voted co-captain, right behind Nori as captain.

Akio waved his hand, “N-Nori c’mon it’s okay! I don’t think Taichi meant any harm.” He laughed nervously. The team as a whole have been nervous about Nori and Tai’s relationship. Nori held the record for most goals scored in the district, until last year. Last year, Tai replaced him in the starting line up as the center forward and passed him in goals scored during the season — Knocking Nori off of his pedestal. Nori wasn’t just competitive, he was also horrible at losing.

“I’m sure, Akio,” Nori smirked, “Just be careful. You never know what he’s planning,” Nori winked at Tai, “Right, Tai?”

Tai shrugged, walking to the bench to grab his bag. He took a drink of his water, “Whatever, captain,” Tai bent down, grabbing the extra cones, “I’m going to go give these back to Yoko. Hoping I didn’t miss her.” He waved the cones, “See you two later.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Nori said as he joined Tai to walk to the other field across campus.

“Hey,” Nori said, clearing his throat, “I’m not upset at your goal record from last season. I’m just messing with you, alright? I’m actually surprised someone was able to pass me up.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

Tai eyed him, breaking out into a grin, “So you’re saying you’re proud of me? Never thought I’d see the day…” 

Nori rolled his eyes, nudging Tai’s shoulder with a little force, “Don’t let that go to your head. Someone will pass you up one of these days and you’ll have to gracefully pass the crown down as well.”

The men walked in a comfortable silence, catching the end of the women’s practice.

“Yoko loves making the newbies scrimmage the veterans,” Nori said, letting out a small laugh as a nervous first year shied away from a pass. The ball bounced off a brunette’s shinguard, a blonde intercepting it as she dribbled it towards her opponent’s goal.

“Aaaaand Rini is off,” Tai said, earning a laugh from Nori. Rini is the center midfielder of the women’s team. She is a third year and she is quick with the ball.

Nori smirked, “Yeah, almost unstoppable…” Nori paused, a smirk pulling at his lips as a redhead took the ball from Rini, dribbling in the opposite direction, “Almost.” He chuckled at Rini’s look of annoyance as the redhead stole the ball, preventing her from getting a shot off.

“Next goal wins!” Yoko yelled from the sidelines. The redhead cut the ball past a defender, her leg pulling back before she kicked it towards the goal. The goalkeeper reached, the ball just passing by her fingers and into the net.

“Wow,” Nori said, “What a shot. Red has some legs on her, huh?” He nudged Tai, giving Rini a wave as he caught her eye. Tai squinted, trying to get a closer look at the redhead.

 _It’s her_ , he thought. As he followed Nori to the sideline of the field, he confirmed his suspicion.

“That ball was like a missile,” the goalkeeper said, giving the redhead a high five, “Nice one.”

“Thanks,” she said back, smiling as a group of them gathered to stretch. _So that’s what she looks like smiling,_ he made his way to the bench, thanking Yoko for the cones.

“Don’t mention it,” she said, “We didn’t need them today. We scrimmaged for most of practice,” she nodded towards the pitch, “I wanted to see how well the new ones mixed.”

Tai smirked, “Seems to be working out for you guys.”

“Taaaichi,” he heard a woman’s voice say from the field, “Noriiiiiii.” She giggled, throwing her arms around their shoulders, “Did you guys have a good summer?”

“It was pretty good, Eri,” Nori said, giving her a quick hug back, “Any good new ones? Red has a hell of a leg.”

Eri gasped, “Doesn’t she? We scouted her from up north in a small mountain town.” They turned to face the stretching group of girls, the redhead and the goalkeeper laughing. “Seems like she’s getting along well with Kazue, which is always a good sign. Rini already feels replaced.” Eri rolled her eyes, “You know how she gets when she feels rivaled.”

“Tell me about it,” Nori muttered. He dated Rini on and off for about two years. The stretching group began to disperse, the women grabbing their bags as they began to leave the field.

“Same time on Wednesday,” Yoko said loudly, waving as players began to walk away.

Eri smiled, “Oh! How rude of me. Let me introduce you two to the newbies.” She turned, grabbing the arm of the shy brunette from earlier and waving over the redhead, “This is Mae,” the young girl gave a nervous smile, “It’s her first year. She’s going to be great we are so excited.”

“Nice to meet you um,” she cleared her throat.

“Oh,” Tai said, “I’m Taichi and this is Nori. We play for the men’s team.” She smiled, blushing softly.

Eri looked around, “Where did she… Hey!” She yelled, “Sora come here!”

The redhead looked up, her eyes on the screen of her phone as she joined the small group. Tai watched her walk over, _yep, that’s her._

“This is Sora,” Eri said, squeezing Sora’s shoulders excitedly, “She’s going to beat both of you in goals scored in a season.”

Sora shook her head, tucking her phone into the pocket of her sweatshirt, “No, Eri, be realistic.” She glanced up, Nori’s hand extending quickly to shake her’s. Sora jumped in surprise, chuckling nervously as he took her hand in his, “Nori. Looking forward to you beating me.” He winked, Sora giving him her best attempt at a smile.

“Yeah…” Sora said quietly, chuckling nervously as her eyes swept to Tai’s, “Oh. It’s you.”

Eri interrupted, “Oh you’ve met Taichi?”

Tai cleared his throat, “Yeah she’s met me but I don’t think I’ve officially met her,” he gave her an annoyed smile, “Nice to meet you, Sora,” he emphasized her name, liking how it sounded on his lips.

“Pleasure,” she said, het voice monotoned, “I gotta get going.”

“Me too,” Tai said, “Why don’t we walk together.” He smirked, taking enjoyment in her struggling to hide her annoyance.

“I don’t think-” Sora went to reply, Eri interrupting.

“Great idea! Sora, it’s always good to be friends with the guys. They always have the best gatorades,” Eri shrugged, giving them a wave before walking in the opposite direction with Nori.

Sora gave Eri a quick smile, “Right. Okay fine. Let’s go.” She turned quickly, her shoulder brushing Tai’s arm as she began to walk towards their apartment complex.

“Sooooo,” Tai said as he caught up, “I didn’t know you were on the women’s team here.” He gave her his signature grin, one that always got the ladies talking.

Sora glanced at him, “Mhm! I thought the shinguard tan would give it away.”

“What position do you play? Forward?” He asked, rolling tension from his shoulders. “You took a pretty good shot.”

She shook her head, “No I’m a center midfielder… I don’t know if I’ll do much playing here though.” She looked to the ground, “Rini is pretty good and she seems pretty set on playing the full 90 of every game.”

Tai rolled his eyes, “Agh, no. Don’t think about Rini. She has great control but she doesn’t take enough risks to be threatening on the field.” Sora watched him, nodding. He took her silence as her thinking, noting that the silence this time was comfortable.

“Hey,” he said, breaking her from her train of thought.

“Hm?” She met his eyes, Tai’s heart skipping a beat. _I just met this girl. C’mon Taichi relax._

“U-Um,” he stuttered, smiling slightly as her keycard swiped and unlocked the door.

“No longer need a personal doorman,” she smirked at him, Tai’s smirk widening into a smile in response.

“So she does have jokes,” he said, hurrying into the building close behind her. She shrugged, “I do happen to have a personality. Believe it or not.” They waited for the elevator together, Tai hanging on to the conversation.

“Who would’ve guessed,” Tai said, stepping into the elevator as the doors opened. Sora laughed, shaking her head as she followed. _There we go,_ he smirked to himself.

“There’s a party tomorrow night,” Tai started, holding up his finger as she opened her mouth to most likely decline him, “No it’s for everybody on the teams. This is not me asking you to go with me… In that way. Nori always throws a beginning of the season party before we all get too tired to hang out with classes and practice.”

Sora bit her bottom lip, “I don’t know… I think I’m just going to stay in for the rest of the week,” she glanced at him, “I’m still tired from the move and I’m definitely going to need time to adjust to classes.”

Tai nodded, “Fair enough.” The doors opened to their floor, “It’s at The Hall. Google it for directions if you end up deciding hanging out with yourself isn’t as fun as socializing.”

“Believe me,” Sora said, “I can be pretty fun on my own.” He noticed a change in her energy, the woman already unlocking her front door.

“Okay, then I’ll see you…” Before Tai could finish, Sora gave him a quick smile and a nod as she closed her door.

“… Later,” he took a deep breath, “Redheads…” He unlocked his door and headed into his apartment. _Just when I thought we were getting somewhere._

~

Sora tried her best to copy her professor’s writing from the board. His figures were sloppy, _Jeez. It’s like he’s writing in his own secret code._ The woman was already annoyed she had to take a literary analysis course.

“Alright,” he said, “I’m going to put you all into pairs for the upcoming group project. Why am I doing this so early in the semester? Well,” he paused for dramatic effect, “I suggest you get started early and not leave it for the last minute.”

Sora nodded. She never procrastinated with school work. She always consider that to be a death sentence with her usually full schedule. Her professor began pairing students up. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she hoped she would be paired with someone just as motivated to get the project done early.

“Sora Takenouchi,” the professor said, Sora lifting her head from the desk, “and Mimi Tachikawa.” Sora glanced around, jumping in surprise as a tall brunette slid into a desk next to her, the legs of the desk sliding across the tiled floor of the classroom.

“Hi,” the brunette smiled at her, her voice peppy and warm.

Sora gave her a small smile back, “Hello. I’m Sora.”

“It is seriously so nice to meet you,” Mimi said, “I’m Mimi. I was terrified I’d be paired with one of the guys. Not that I have anything against guys,” Mimi began to ramble, “I just wanted this opportunity to make more girl friends. Currently only been giving my time to my boyfriend and our best friend. Kind of over it, not gonna lie.”

She continued to ramble, Sora letting out a small laugh as Mimi took a deep breath to catch her breath because she was too busy talking to breathe. She was just glad someone else was doing all of the talking for once.

“Well,” Sora said, “I’m in need of friends so this is a perfect setup for the both of us.” Mimi’s smile widened, her hands grasping Sora’s arm excitedly, “I would like to get this assignment out of the way as soon as possible though. Or at least started… Then we can hang out.”

“Done,” Mimi replied quickly, “Why don’t you come over and we work on it tonight? I don’t think I have any other plans…” The woman’s voice lowered, Sora watching in amazement as she seemed to go through her own mental daily planner, “Shit…” Mimi said to herself, “That can be rescheduled… Easy…” She mumbled a bit longer before smiling at Sora, “I’m all free!”

Sora smiled, “Perfect me too!”

“That’s all I have for you all today,” the professor said, waving the students free with his hand, “Be free, my students.”

~

“And that’s why we should do our report on Pride and Prejudice instead of Emma,” Mimi said as she circled the book title in the middle of the confusing chart she had made for Sora, “I mean like not even an argument. She bewitched a man’s body AND soul. Goals, ya know?”

Sora nodded, “Wow… She must be one hell of a catch,” she realized Mimi was waiting for her to agree to the book, “Yes. I am definitely down to do this for out project. I’ve actually never read it.” Mimi smiled, clapping her hands together as she began to clean up her makeshift charts, “I’m sure you’ll love it. Well, if you like feminist love stories. You seem like the woman to like a feminist love story.”

Sora laughed, “Yes, anything involving women empowerment is a go for me.”

“Me too, sister,” Mimi winked. She turned to run off to a small bedroom that was connected to her living room. Sora glanced around, feeling a sense of happiness as she realized how much Mimi’s home decor matched her bubbly and warm personality.

A white couch was placed against a wall that was covered with a pink peony patterned wallpaper. A round rug that was a deep green was placed in the middle room, partially under the couch and the entertainment center. Sora was sitting in one of the taller dining chairs, the white of the seat matching the couch. She glanced at the entryway table, smiling at a picture of Mimi with her lips pressed to the cheek of a blonde man.

 _Must be her boyfriend,_ Sora sighed, _So sweet._ She glanced at the dining table, another picture of the pair displayed in the center. The blonde man’s arm was stretched out of the left side of the picture, pushing someone away as Mimi snapped the selfie. _I swear I’ve seen him before…_ Before Sora could ponder on where she had seen this man, and even Mimi, the brunette woman’s feet sounded down the hallway — Running at a quick pace.

“Wehavetogotoaparty tonight,” Mimi took a deep breath, the words pouring out of her mouth faster than Sora could process, “And you are coming with me because I am not being left out when the boys get drunk and decide to have bromance moments at the chip bowl.”

“I-I…” Sora wasn’t sure what she was about to agree to, but hanging out with Mimi had been fun. Besides, it would be nice to have someone to show her around Tokyo or just watch movies with. “Sure?” Sora shrugged.

“Yes, okay good,” Mimi said, the smile could be heard on her voice, “Do you have anything to wear to a party? Athleisure is cute but… Ya know…”

Sora glanced down at her clothing. She was wearing black leggings and a t-shirt for her old college team, “Wait where are we going?” Sora raised an eyebrow, she should’ve asked Mimi to clarify before she agreed.

Mimi shrugged a shoulder, “Oh, just a small get together to start of the semester,” she blinked, trying her best to convince the other, “Ugh just trust me. You need more friends, anyway. Give you a better feel of the city.”

Sora sighed, “Okay fine. I’ll meet you back here in an hour.” Sora and Mimi said their goodbyes.

 _This better be a small get together,_ Sora sighed. She often felt herself grow anxious when she knew a lot of people she didn’t know would be at a gathering.

~

“Mimi are you sure I dressed up enough for this supposedly small gathering?” Sora said, feeling conscious of her own outfit as she let her eyes take in Mimi’s red dress. The fabric hugged her curves, the long sleeves elegant and off her shoulders. She had curled her hair, the strands loose and messy with a pearl-covered clip holding her bangs back. A pair of strappy, black heals tied her outfit together.

Mimi smiled, her glossy lips the perfect shade of pink, “Are you kidding? You look amazing!” Sora wore a fitted grey long-sleeved shirt, the fabric soft, and a faux leather miniskirt. Sora thought it sounded nice enough, but the lack of color now made her rethink her decisions.

“Should I put my hair down?” Sora asked, pulling stray pieces from the edges of her two French braids.

Mimi chuckled, “No you look great. That’s always the move the shy, nerdy girl does in the teen movies. That is not who we are… We are… Oh!” She turned to Sora excitedly, “We are Elisabeth Bennett and we bewitch men… Both their body and their soul.”

Sora laughed, “Okay okay fine… Good enough for me.” She zipped up her shoes, also noticing that her heals were not even close to the height of Mimi’s, _Great, my first friends had to be an amazonian woman…_

“Let’s go let’s go!” Mimi said as she rushed Sora out of the door, “We’re already late and we have a 15 minute walk…” Mimi scoffed, “Who am I kidding I love being late. Especially looking like this.”

Sora smiled wearily, “Small gathering, right?”

“Sure,” Mimi said, Sora no longer convinced. The two women began to walk, “I can’t wait to introduce you to the guys. They all mean well, but it’ll be soooo nice to have another girl to balance them out. Let me tell you. They make me feel like a babysitter.”

Sora bit her lip as Mimi talked about her friends, trying to stay positive. Though she was happy to have a new friend in Mimi, she was not in the market to be acquainted to men, especially when she already has the nagging problem of Taichi always showing up.

 _I hope he’s having fun at Nori’s party,_ Sora shook her head, not letting her thoughts on him go any further.

“Okay we made it,” Mimi said, sighing as she rubbed the back of her heels, “These shoes are cute so I’m gonna say it’s worth wearing them but… Ouch.”

Sora glanced up, trying to hold in her surprise as she read the name of the building. ‘The Hall’. _Of course._

The building was a large, brick building. A few people were standing outside, but it was obvious that the inside was packed. Colorful lights flashed from the doorway, the bass of the music beginning to fill Sora’s ears as Mimi grabbed her hand and began to pull her across the street.

“This is the smallest gathering I’ve ever been to,” Sora said, Mimi laughing as she caught onto the sarcasm that dripped from Sora’s words. Mimi looked over her shoulder, “Sorry country girl, this is pretty small for the city.” With a wink, Mimi dragged Sora into the building.

“Do you drink?” Mimi asked as she grabbed two cups, passing one to Sora.

Sora took a deep breath, glancing at the red liquid in the cup. She shrugged, “I do tonight,” before taking a sip. The sugary taste of the drink reminded her of the small parties she would have with her best friends from home. _Dangerous,_ Sora said, telling herself she couldn’t down the cup to ease her nerves as Mimi pulled her through the sea of bodies.

Mimi stopped in the middle of the dance floor, “Have you seen a blonde anywhere?” She yelled to Sora. Sora shook her head, knowing she was asking about the man in the photos, “I haven’t been looking!” Sora yelled back, taking another drink from her cup as she felt the people around her begin to press to her.

Mimi pouted before she began pulling Sora through the crowd again. Sora glanced down, trying to focus on not tripping on her own feet and spilling her drink at the same time.

“Nori,” Mimi said, stopping next to the soccer captain, “Have you seen Yama? I can’t find him.” Nori shook his head, “No I haven’t. Who are you dragging through this place?” He chuckled, glancing at the hand Mimi currently held in a death grip.

“Oh! How rude of me,” Mimi giggled, pulling Sora in front of her, “This is my new friend…”

“Red? You decided to come, huh?” The man asked, smirking as the colorful lights glinted off of his ink black hair, “Mimi rope you in?”

Sora nodded, “Well, she kind of fibbed on what type of gathering this was.”

Mimi stepped in, “I did not, Sora. This is a small gathering for Tokyo standards, right Nori?”

Nori raised his eyebrows, taking a drink from his red cup, “Sure, Mimi. Small… Well I’m going to go setup some games. You ladies have fun.” With a wink, Nori turned away and began making his way through the tight groups of people.

“Ooooo,” Mimi giggled, “A wink?” Sora gave her a confused look, “Never mind. Steer clear of that one, though. He’s only trouble.”

“O-Oh,” Sora said, “Oh no no. Never.” Sora said, “I don’t interact with men unless I absolutely have to.”

Mimi smirked, “Good. The soccer boys always circle the new girls like vultures. It’ll be fun to watch them fight each other off for someone who literally does not care.”

Sora gave Mimi a nervous chuckle, taking another drink from her cup. She felt her nerves begin to die down, _Don’t trust them._ She heard her mom’s voice echo in her mind, reminding her that men were only trouble.

Grabbing Sora’s hand again, Mimi made a sharp turn and picked up the pace.

“Izzy! Oh my god, finally a friendly face,” Mimi said as she slid into the seat next to a man with deep red hair, “Have you seen Yamato?”

The man shook his head, “No but he said we were meeting in this back corner.” Sora leaned on the wall next to Mimi because of the lack of seating. Taking a deep breath, Sora’s eyes wandered the space. A taller blonde woman caught Sora’s eye, giving her a broad smile as she made her way through the crowd to her. _It’s Rini!_ Sora returned the smile.

“Hey! I wasn’t sure if you got the invite,” Rini said, nodding at Mimi before returning her attention back to Sora, “I would’ve told you after practice but I was a bit annoyed that someone else could finally keep up with me in the center.”

Sora shook her head, “Oh my god not even. You’re too quick.”

Rini laughed, “Please. You’ll be playing there and I’ll be your substitute in no time. Trust me…” Rini lifted her hand, resting it on Sora’s shoulder, “No hard feelings, okay? We are both great at the sport we play. Only support and love for you.”

Sora eyed Rini’s face, deciding that the smile was genuine. She smiled back, Rini gasping, “And you have to teach me how you literally make every shot that far out. Absolute insanity!” The women laughed, “Okay I’m off to find Nori. He wants to talk,” Rini rolled her eyes, “Men, right?”

Sora nodded, “Right.”

“See you later, Sora,” Rini smiled over her shoulder then headed off into the party.

“How do you know Rini?” Mimi asked, tilting her head.

“Oh I play on the team,” Sora said, wondering how Mimi didn’t connect the dots from her soccer bag in class. Mimi nodded, “Oooooh… Wow okay that makes so much more sense than what I thought…”

Sora raised an eyebrow, “What did you think?” She smirked.

Mimi smirked back, “This is Izzy.” She nodded her head toward him. Izzy peaked around Mimi, giving Sora a small wave.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, “Where are you from? Mimi was telling me you just moved to Tokyo… And I noted a small accent when you were talking to Rini.”

Sora smiled, “Just a small town up North. You wouldn’t know it.” She shook her head, “It’s nice to meet you too, though. Another face to know on campus.”

“I’m forcing her to be our friend so our group is more gender diverse,” Mimi said, earning a laugh from both Sora and Izzy, “I’m so tired of you boys. No offence, but also complete offence.”

Izzy nodded, agreeing, “That’s valid. Well, welcome to the circle, Sora. Nice to have you.”

“There you guys are,” a voice said over the music, “I thought we meant the corner on the other side of the room.”

Sora recognized him as the blonde from Mimi’s photos. He turned to Sora, “Mimi’s new friend? She’s been texting me about you all day.” Sora felt her cheeks warm. It had been awhile since someone was this excited to have her in their circle, “I’m Yamato,” he smiled as he introduced himself, “I hope she hasn’t overpowered you with her very persistent personality.”“Yamaaaa,” Mimi said as she stood to wrap her arms around his neck, “I am not persistent… Sora was just so eager to meet new people that she insisted we come to this party.”

Yamato’s arm wrapped around Mimi’s waist. He looked to Sora, “That’s a lie isn’t it. You don’t want to be here at all.”

“Not at all,” Sora smirked. Yamato chuckled, “That makes two of us but someone is going to have to babysit this one,” he nodded to Mimi, “And the other one who can’t handle their alcohol well.”

Sora glanced to Izzy. Izzy shook his head, “I, for one, understand my limit with alcohol.”

“I can handle my alcohol,” Mimi said, pouting. She grabbed Sora’s cup, Sora holding back a laugh as Mimi noticed the differences in liquid between their cups. Mimi’s was empty, Sora’s still more than half full. “Well shit, Sora. I thought we were going to be messy together,” she rolled her eyes, “Maybe you’re too smart to be out friend.”

Sora smiled as she took her cup back, “Fuck it,” she brought the cup to her lips, finishing the liquid in the cup, “Why not.” Mimi nodded approvingly, her chuckle sounding more dark than good, “Excellent. You are going to fit in just fine.”

Sora glanced at Izzy, “Bad idea, huh…” Izzy nodded, “Oh definitely. Yeah.” She sat down in the now empty chair next to him and pulled her phone from her bag. She smiled, her mother sending her pictures of her cat from home and her old teammates reminding her that they would always love her.

“We’re going to go get more drinks!” Mimi said, the brunette already a bit louder than she was before. Sora didn’t think that could be possible. Sora nodded, “I don’t need another.”

“What did you say?” Mimi said, the smirk on her lips meaning she heard just fine, “Another? Okay!” And with that, Mimi and Yamato slipped through the dance floor to the drinks table.

“So you’re on the team?” Izzy asked.

Sora looked up from her phone, putting it back into her purse, “Yeah I am. It’s a bit weird starting on a new team two years in.”

Izzy nodded, “Can I ask you something?”

Sora shrugged. “Sure why not.”

“Do you score a lot of goals?” He asked, Sora nodding, “Cool. I will pay you money to beat the record of goals scored in one season that was set last year.”

Sora’s lips pulled into a small smile, “What? Why? You have a vendetta against someone?” She chuckled, “But okay. I’ll do my best… Since you’ve been so welcoming.”

Izzy smiled, “Thank you. I just want to see him squirm from the anxiety of knowing he’s about to be beat.”

Sora laughed, nudging him with her shoulder, “I never would’ve picture you as someone who would make such a diabolical plan.” Izzy seemed kind and reserved.

“You always have to look out for the quiet ones,” Izzy said, laughing as he took a small sip from his cup.

“Are you single?” He asked.

Sora did a double take. She knew if she had been drinking a drink then she would have spit it out, “W-Wow I mean yes but this is way too soon and I don’t really date…” Izzy held his hand up.

“No no,” he said, blushing as he laughed nervously, “Not for me. I’m not interested. I hope that doesn’t offend you. I mean I-I think you’re pretty but…”

Sora shook her head, relief washing over her, “I’m not offended at all. I prefer being friends anyway. Makes things easier.”

Izzy nodded in agreement, “I ask because we have another friend and I am willing to bet anything that Mimi is going to try her best to introduce you two at some point. Every time she meets a girl she likes she always pushes her in his direction.”

“Oh don’t worry about me,” Sora said, “I am far from interested in anything romantic.”

Izzy nodded and gave her a smile, “It really is nice to meet you, Sora. Finally someone else who is level headed to talk too.”

“Honestly, same to you,” Sora said, “But I think that drink is kicking in so I might not be as level headed.” She chuckled, her head beginning to feel light and her eyelids heavy. Izzy laughed, “I was wondering when that would happen. You really chugged that glass. I am impressed.”

“I’m admittedly a little nervous,” Sora said, letting out a small laugh. Izzy nodded, understanding her feelings.

Sora and Izzy sat in a comfortable silence, singing to the familiar early 2000’s music that played over the speakers. A man walked by with a plate of shot glasses, Izzy and Sora deciding to take one together to commemorate their new friendship.

“Well,” Sora said, “Cheers to us.” They knocked glasses before they took their shots. Sora made a face and shook her head quickly. Izzy tried not to gag, the alcohol sitting in his throat.

“That was a terrible idea,” Izzy said. “Yep. No more,” Sora said, “I’m going to go find the restroom. Please make sure Mimi knows I didn’t run away. I don’t even want to know what it feels like to be hunted down by her. I’ll be back.”

Izzy nodded, “Up the stairs to the right at the end of the hall. I’ll be here!”

Sora thanked him as she headed towards the stairs.

The music was surprisingly quieter on the second floor. Sora climbed the stairs, annoyed by the spinning in her head. “To the right… End of the hall…” She glanced to the right, turning down the hallway.

The hallway broke off to a small room. Sora glanced in, quickly pulling away as she heard a couple arguing, “Nope not my business… Unless,” she stuck her head back around the corner before ultimately deciding that she should just keep walking towards the bathroom.

“No line?” Sora said, celebrating the small victory.

She left the bathroom and sighed, taking a moment of silence to reflect on her night. She felt herself smile, realizing she was honestly having fun. She grabbed her phone and began texting her mom, filling her in on her new friends and the soccer team.

“I just always thought I would have a second chance,” a women’s voice said, getting louder as Sora got closer to the second hall. Sora continued walking, letting out a surprised yelp as a woman rushed out of the hall and knocked Sora’s phone from her hands. Sora blinked, her intoxicated brain slow to take in the situation.

Sora bent down and grabbed her phone. She flipped it over, “No cracks. Great great,” she smiled, returning to her texting. Just as her legs began to walk again, a second figure came out of the hall, this time not so gracefully.

“Oof,” Sora felt a body slam into hers, the woman and her phone falling to the ground. Right before Sora hit the ground, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to her feet.

“Sorry about that,” the voice said, Sora recognizing the tone. She turned her head, glaring into the brown eyes of the man who knocked into her.

“Not forgiven,” she said quickly as she tried to pull his arm from her waist, her phone chiming to alert her that her mother had texted her back. His arm didn’t budge. She glanced back at him, giving him an annoyed look, “Fine I forgive you.” She found herself wishing he would pull her closer and take her to the end of the hallway where it was dark.

He smiled victoriously, letting go of her, his hand still lingering just on the small of her back, “What are you doing here? Decide that being alone wasn’t as fun as bring with me?”

Sora picked up her phone and turned to talk to him. She felt her cheeks warm as she took in his laid back look. His hair was messy, his button up shirt fit loosely. Her fingers itched to unbutton each button one by one and feel his skin underneath. _It’s the alcohol,_ “No,” she said, her voice breaking. _Damnit._

Tai smirked, his body pressing closer to her own, “Then what brings you to The Hall, Sora? Are you sure it wasn’t to get to know me better?” She didn’t have to look at him to know he had that lopsided grin painted across his face.

Sora rolled her eyes, feeling herself smile as she let out a small laugh, “Not even. I made friends and they invited me… Well one of them and then I made more but that’s besides the point.” She quickly looked to the ground, forcing her lips back into a hard, straight line of annoyance. _What is happening._ The weight of his hand burned against her.

“Good for you, going and making your own friends,” he said, “Want to grab a drink?” She took her eyes off of the floor. She did want to grab a drink with him. She knew grabbing a drink with him would turn into a night with him. Sora could tell he felt it too by the way he tensed in anticipation for her reply. The tension that was beginning to build was difficult to hide, but she would do anything she could to avoid it. His hand still rested on her waist, almost protectively to ensure she was steady. _Boys are only trouble._

Sora shook her head, “Nope, my friend is grabbing me one.” She went to walk away, only to be slowed by his arm as he joined her by her side, “Taichi,” Sora said, “I don’t need you to escort me through the crowd.”

Tai laughed, “I’m keeping you safe from my teammates, Sor.” Her head snapped up as he called her Sor.

She felt another blush creep up her cheeks, her stomach doing a flip as he said the nickname her first crush had given her. She eyed him, “I’ll be fine, thank you.” She turned to head back to the corner Izzy was occupying, Tai still close by her.

“Okay again with the following?” She said, turning to face him.

“Oh don’t flatter yourself,” he said, smirking at her, “I’m meeting my friends.” Sora rolled her eyes, deciding to drop the topic as she turned to head back to Izzy. _This guy can’t take a hint._

As the corner came into view, Sora smiled as she noticed that Mimi was back.

“Sora good! You’re back!” The brunette stood up, “And I kept your drink safe,” She giggled, passing the cup to Sora. “Thanks, Mimi.”

Mimi gasped, making Sora jump, “And how perfect! You found Taichi!” Mimi screamed excitedly, watching as Mimi pulled Tai into a tight hug.

“Hey Meems how much have you had to drink?” Tai asked, prying Mimi’s arms off of him. She always had a death grip.

“Psh,” Mimi said, “That doesn’t matter. I honestly thought you’d be on my level and now I’m a liiiiiiittle embarrassed.” Tai laughed as Mimi skipped back to sit next to Izzy.

“Oh are these your new friends?” Tai said, Sora feeling annoyance creep under her skin.

“For the love of god,” she groaned, Tai patting her head as he guided her to the corner.

He laughed, the sound close to an evil cackle, “Well welcome to the group.”

Sora took a deep breath, deciding to focus on having fun and not the fact that she couldn’t shake herself of Taichi. She glanced at Izzy, “Is he the one with the record?” She jabbed a thumb in Tai’s direction. Izzy nodded his head. Sora smirking, “I’m going to beat that record into the ground.”

“Tai,” Mimi said, “She is so nice. Seriously go talk to her she’ll be good for you.”

Tai groaned, rubbing his face, “Listen Meems. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.” Tai saw Yamato smirk out of the corner of his eye, “Wipe that smirk of your face, Yamato, before I do it for you.”

“Well,” Yamato said, “What a great addition to the group. A woman who doesn’t fall for Taichi’s charms,” Yamato sighed, content, “I like her.”

“That’s the problem though,” Tai said, “I think I like her too. How did you get Mimi to actually want to date you?”

Mimi shared a glance with Yamato as Tai’s eyes fell back to Sora as she planned her and Izzy’s victory. Tai cursed to himself. Why would he crave to be with a woman who wouldn’t even spare him a glance? Just the thought of her brought his body temperature up and made his heart beat quicken. He couldn’t keep track of the amount of times he has thought of what it would be like to kiss her, or even make her breakfast.

She looked over from her conversation with Izzy, catching Tai’s gaze. Tai didn’t look away, Sora’s crimson eyes holding his brown. He could still feel the closeness of her body to his in the hallway, and he was certain it would haunt his dreams for the rest of the week. She had him bewitched, and Tai Kamiya was in deep trouble.


	4. Skylines

**Hi everyone! Thank you for keeping up with my updates. There is a drinking game included in this chapter that I played with my team and the men’s team back in my undergraduate soccer days. I hope you all enjoy! I had fun writing it. :)**

Chapter 4: Skylines

Sora bit her lower lip nervously. She was standing at the end of the table, her teammates lined next to her, each with a cup in front of them. The men’s team began to line up across from them. Someone nudged Sora’s left shoulder, bringing her back from her spiraling uncertainty.

“Okay so we put you at the end because you have the best shot at scoring on them,” Rini said, “I’m just happy I’m not the pressured one this year.” The blonde smirked, Sora chuckling nervously in response.

“I’m sorry,” Sora said, her eyes beginning to scan her competitors as more men joined to play, “But what are we playing again?”

The two drinks and shot had finally set in for Sora. She glanced around, squinting against the colorful lights of the dance floor in contrast to the dark lighting of the actual building. Sora had been talking with Mimi about whether or not Izzy could pull off Yamato’s skinny jeans before being pulled away by her teammates.

“I’ll give her the brief,” Kazue, the goalkeeper, said as she pushed between Sora and Rini, “Every year at this party the guys challenge us to a game of flip cup.” Kazue grabbed her cup and placed it on the edge, flipping it with her hand. She smirked as it landed right side up, “Chug your drink. Flip your cup. ONLY after mine is flipped.”

Sora nodded, “Okay, but why did Rini make it seem like such a big deal to be last?” She tilted her head, peering down the line of laughing women, Rini leaning across the table to taunt Nori as he lined up across from her.

“Oh,” Kazue said, chuckling, “Well, Sora. We, as a team, agreed that you should be last because after you flip your cup you’re going to run into that hall and out that open door,” Sora nodded, Kazue making sure she was following, “And then you’re going to see a soccer ball and two small goals. Take the shot and if you score before the guys, we win!”

Sora shook her head, “No no… I did’t agree to this. Kazue, I don’t think I’m the person who should be doing the scoring…” Sora felt her anxiety begin to spike. She was comfortable with her new friends, but was she comfortable enough to play a drinking game? Let alone be the one who is the determining factor of her team’s victory?

“Ah they put you at the end, too?” Tai said from across Sora, smirking as Sora’s expression turned from nervousness to one of competitiveness.

“When do we start?” Sora asked Kazue, the other woman smirking approvingly. Sora felt her nerves melt away. She wasn’t sure what it was — Tai’s annoying smirk, or his tone that hinted he already claimed the win — But Sora had the biggest need to win.

“Eri is doing the countdown this year,” she nodded towards the captain at the other end of the table, “Then it’s on. We haven’t won in two years, though. Ever since they let this himbo on the team.” Kazue motioned to Tai.

“Kazue,” Tai said, “I have some brains. I’m not just a pretty face and body.” He faked a hurt expression, Kazue chuckling.

“He’s just a quick one,” Kazue said, rolling her eyes as Tai nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure I’m quicker,” Sora said, Tai raising an eyebrow.

“Wanna bet?” Tai asked, holding her gaze. No one ever beat him in sprints.

Sora stared back, “Sure. What do you want to bet?”

“Oooo,” Kazue smacked Sora on the back, “I like you, Sora. I like you.”

Tai nodded, “Okay… If I score the goal, you let me take you out.” He smirked, Sora rolling her eyes. _Walked right into that I guess,_ she thought.

“Fine,” she said, “If I score the goal, you have to buy me ramen.”

Tai huffed in confusion, “Wait isn’t that the same as taking you out?”

Sora shook her head, “No no. You’ll be buying me ramen on Postmates and having it delivered to my apartment, where I’ll be eating it alone.” She crossed her arms, trying to hold back a laugh as she watched what she said register on his face.

“Alright, Sor. Can’t wait to take you out to ramen when I win,” Tai said, sticking his hand out to shake her’s.

A familiar fire of competitive spirit flooded through Sora. It had been awhile since she was faced with a real challenge and she could tell by Tai’s confidence and apparent record breaking goal scoring, he wouldn’t be easy to beat. She smirked, shaking his hand as Eri began the countdown.

—————

Tai smirked as she shook his hand, the countdown beginning at the other end of the long table. He could have sworn her hand lingered in his, holding on a second longer than a normal handshake, but he tried not read too much into it. He had a date to win.

Tai cleared his throat as he leaned to watch his teammates begin the game, a first year nervously flipping a cup, his hand shaking from the pressure. He felt his stomach stir, _Am I nervous?_ He stole a glance across the table at Sora, the redhead watching her own teammates intensely, _She seems like the competitive type… But there’s no way she could catch me…_ He remembered her running down the field at practice, his nervous energy increasing. _And even if she did she wouldn’t be able to defend…_ A memory of her stepping in front of Rini, stealing the ball.

“Getting close, Tai, look alive!” Nori yelled, snapping Tai from his nerves. Nori was never this nervous about beating them. This year, the women were only a cup behind, both teams past the halfway point.

He heard Kazue let out a loud laugh, “Nervous boys? What do you think we practiced over the summer?” The tall goalkeeper cheered on Rini, the blonde frantically trying to flip her cup as Nori’s landed perfectly.

“Akio, you got this,” Nori said, Akio the last person before Taichi.

“Looks like I’ll be taking you to dinner…” Before Tai could finish, Rini’s cup landed and Kazue chugged her own and began flipping it. He caught Sora’s smirk out of the corner of his eye, unable to tear his gaze from Kazue’s cup.

He heard Akio celebrate next to him, his shoulder being hit to signal it was his turn to start. Grabbing his cup, Tai quickly chugged the contents. He scrunched his nose, the familiar flavor of cinnamon liquor tickling the back of his throat.

“Disgusting,” he muttered as he began to focus. He placed his cup on the edge of the table and flipped it. His eyes followed his cup as it tumbled onto its side, Sora’s fingers anxiously drumming the table behind it. Tai grabbed his cup and readied it to be flipped again, _C’mon, Taichi, don’t lose your cool now._

Kazue’s cup landed and he tried to not focus on Sora finishing her drink. He smirked as he caught her scrunching her nose and shaking her head, knowing she knew how he felt about the burn of the cinnamon liquor.

“Focus, Tai,” he heard Nori in his ear, his cup tumbling again.

“I’m trying…” He said as Sora cursed as her own cup flipped too much and fell.

Tai steadied his cup one last time and flipped it, smirking in victory as his cup landed. Without hesitating, Tai took off down the hall and out the backdoor to the small goal setup.

The goals were short, just above his knees. A soccer ball was placed in the middle of the two goals, only needing a small kick to signal the winner. Tai identified the men’s team’s goal by the green coloring of the pipes that constructed it, the women’s blue. He smirked, giving the people who gathered outside to watch a small, confident wave of his hand as he dribbled to ball a few feet before pulling his right leg back to sink it into the back of the net.

 _Too easy. Every year,_ he thought, his foot hitting the ball.

He jumped in surprise as a foot shot out and blocked his kick, the ball landing behind his left hip. Tai’s surprise of being blocked by a foot in a heel was enough to give Sora the time to shoot and score. Glancing over his left shoulder, Tai caught the end of Sora’s shot hitting the white net.

Sora turned around, an equally surprised look on her features as her eyes caught Tai’s. He rested his hands on his hips, “Huh… This is a new feeling.”

This caused Sora to smirk, “I just expected you to be quicker…,” She gave him a wink as she walked past to join her teammates, stopping as her shoulder brushed his arm, “I like extra bamboo shoots in my ramen. Thanks.” The small outside space filled with women screaming excitedly and men who were too quiet to be noticed.

“Are you serious?! We actually won?!” Eri’s voice screamed from the hall, “Move I want to be the first to congratulate her I’m the captain!” Kazue already pulling Sora into her arms and lifting her from the ground, the redhead’s petite frame looking crushed in Kazue’s large reach.

“Huh,” Akio said as he walked up to Tai, Nori and another teammate close behind, “We really lost this year.” Tai nodded, “Yep… Weeee did.” He turned back around, staring at the ball that sat in the opposite goal. He took a deep breath, “Been awhile since I’ve lost anything.”

Nori grinned, “That’ll knock you down off of that pedestal of yours, huh?”

“She did that,” Tai said quietly as he pointed towards the ball in the goal, “In heels? After like three drinks?” He glanced back at his teammates, the other men nodding.

Akio chuckled, “You should’ve seen her take off down the hall.”

“How does it feel to lose, boys?” Eri smirked as she interrupted their small meeting in the middle of the grass. She sighed, “Oh, Tai. How I wish I got outside fast enough to see the look on your face when she scored.” She pinched his cheeks, “Now c’mon. Let’s all get back inside it’s kind of cold tonight.”

———

Sora shook her head as Tai asked her to explain how she made it down the hall and out the door as fast as she did. She chuckled, “Taichi, I don’t think you’re as fast as you think you are…” He faked a hurt expression, mumbling something against the rim of his cup as he finished his drink.

Izzy shot Sora a thumbs up. Sora smirked, leaning towards Izzy to whisper, “This is just the beginning.”

“The ladies won fair and square,” Mimi said from next to him, the brunette slinging her bag over her shoulder, “Besides, let’s not talk about this anymore it’s time to start heading out.” As if on cue, the music began to quiet down, Nori announcing that it was getting late, “See? I’m always right,” Mimi said, giggling as she grabbed Yamato’s hand and gestured for the rest to follow her outside the door.

“What a nice night,” Izzy said, smiling as the cool breeze brushed against his face. He took a deep breath before taking a right on the sidewalk, “Alright guys I’ll see you soon. I’m going to walk tonight.” The others nodded, giving him a wave as he began to walk away.

Yamato nodded, “You guys want to walk? Your apartments are just a street away from mine and Meems is staying over tonight.”

Sora glanced at Mimi’s feet and noted the new bandaid on the band across the top of her foot, “Mimi are your feet down for that?”

Sighing dramatically, Mimi nodded, “Yes I suppose so. Beauty is pain.” She hurried across the street, no sign that her feet were hurting from her long strides. Sora smiled, moving quickly to cross and keep up with her friend.

Yamato took a step into the street, turning back to look at Tai, “Are you gonna walk with us?” Tai looked like he was contemplating, his eyes flickering between the two girls across the street and the front door of the building. “You’re waiting for her, huh,” Yamato said, trying to hide his annoyance, “Before you make up a lame excuse, I heard you and Rhya arguing upstairs when I was searching for Izzy.”

“Rhya and I?” Tai asked, letting out a sarcastic chuckle, “I wasn’t…” By the look on Yamato’s face, Tai knew he couldn’t deny it. Rhya and her new boyfriend had broken up, her second best choice being Tai. Though he hated to admit it, he was close to giving in… He even found himself hoping she’d ask for his company tonight. It wasn’t until he ran into Sora in the hall that he realized things could be better than Rhya. _Rhya, he thought, Why are you so tempting._

Restoring his composure, Tai gave Yamato an easygoing grin, “I’ll walk with you guys.” He raised his eyebrows at Yamato as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants, “C’mon pretty boy. Don’t want your hands getting too cold and then I have to hold them to warm them up for you.”

“Will I ever be so lucky…” Yamato muttered sarcastically as he joined Tai to cross the street.

“Took you two long enough,” Mimi said as she linked her arm under Yamato’s, “It’s rude to keep ladies waiting.”

Yamato shrugged, “Tai was trying to decide between us and going home with-” A hand made combat with the back of Yamato’s head, “Hey! Asshole.” Tai smirked, “Bug in your hair. You’re welcome.”

Sora chuckled, rolling her eyes as Tai winked at her as Yamato rubbed the back of his head. She looked away, pretending to be interested on the Tokyo skyline as they crossed a bridge. Her cheeks felt warm and she knew they were tinted a soft pink, her heart skipping a beat at the thought of Tai’s wink.

“Skyscrapers or mountains?” Tai said from next to her, the man leaning against the arm rail. Sora pulled her arms away, taking a deep breath as she calmed her thoughts.

“Easy,” she said, glancing up at him, “Mountains. These are nice but…” She shook her head, “Not the same.”

Tai nodded, “I have nothing to compare it too. I’ve only ever known this,” he outstretched his arm, tracing the tall buildings. He closed one eye, focusing.

Sora watched him closely, turning to follow his finger, “I mean it’s still a beautiful view.”

Tai’s finger stopped, a smirk spreading across his face as he glanced to Sora. Sora shook her head, already beginning to walk away from the guardrails, “Don’t say it, Tai.”

“C’mon I have to you kind of walked into that one,” he grinned, clearing his throat, “Oh but the beautiful view is nowhere near the beauty of you, Sora Takenouchi.” She turned away, trying to hide her laugh as he dramatically spoke. Her cheeks warmed again, “Are you blushing?” Tai asked, grinning as the redhead shook her head and turned away quickly to hide her face.

“No I’m just drunk,” she said, laughing as she waved her hand to distant him from her.

“Psh,” Tai said, “Lame excuse. We both know you’re the most sober out of the four of us.”

“Hey!” Mimi yelled from the other side of the bridge, “If you two are done flirting I would love to make it home before three in the morning!”

Sora cleared her throat, “Jeez is she always this pushy when she’s tired.”

Tai nodded, “Yeah. Oh yeah. You don’t even know the beginning of it. At least she uses her nice voice with you…” The two hurried down the walkway, catching up with an annoyed Yamato and a smirking Mimi.

“You know, Sora,” Mimi said, “Taichi is recently single and I think you two would be the cutest.”Sora raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “Oh absolutely not. We…” She glanced at Tai, “No.”

Mimi pouted, “But you two were being cute and all flirty on the bridge…” Yamato grabbed her hand, trying to pull her in the correct direction and away from the conversation.Sora held her hands up, “We weren’t flirting we were just talking about-”

“We were definitely flirting,” Tai interrupted, smirking as he watched Sora’s blush deepen and the woman squirm under his gaze. Sora avoided his gaze, letting out an annoyed sigh as she began to walk towards the corner street of their apartment building.

Yamato let out a small laugh as Sora walked out of hearing distance, “She really doesn’t want anything to do with you does she…” He watched Tai’s expression turn to one of defeat, “This is awesome. I really never thought I would witness such a thing.”

Mimi giggled, “Yama, leave poor Taichi alone.” She reached to pinch Tai’s cheek, her fingers drunkenly slipping to pinch the tip of his nose, “He isn’t used to such a pretty girl rejecting him.”

Tai swatted her hand away, “Yeah yeah we’ll see,” he waved goodbye before jogging to catch up with Sora, the woman already turning down the street and pulling her keycard from her bag.

“I can’t read her,” Yamato said, letting Mimi hop on his back as she slipped her heels off of her aching feet. She sighed, giggling as he began to walk, her head resting on the back of his neck.

“Hmmm,” Mimi said, “I mean we only just met her… She seems nice… And fun… And not trusting of men so I already would die for her,” Mimi closed her eyes, tightening her grip so she wouldn’t slide from his back, “Maybe something happened back home and that’s why she’s not giving in.”

Yamato looked at the ground, stepping up a curb as he pulled Mimi tighter against him, “Yeah… Who knows really. I just hope Tai doesn’t fuck it up like he does with every other good thing.”

Mimi lifted her head, “Hey, Rhya wasn’t his fault. You have to give him that,” she rested her head back down, “And relationships and love aren’t always easy for everyone… Speaking from experience.”

Yamato smiled, “We did have a rocky start, huh? But we worked out in the end. I would do it all over again if it meant I still got to be with you,” he felt Mimi snuggle closer to him, “Meems, we’re here. You have to get off now.”

She groaned in protest, but let him set her on the ground as he opened the door to his apartment complex.

———

Sora swiped her card, the click of the door signaling that it was unlocked. She heard someone open it, not having to look up to know it was Tai. Pushing her annoyance to the back of her mind, Sora gave him a quick smile as she walked through the doors and to the elevator.

She wasn’t annoyed with Tai, or the situation actually. She found herself actually enjoying their competitive banter and conversations — It was the possibilities of what could happen with him that she tried to distance herself from. Back home, Sora’s mom always warned her to keep her walls up around men, especially men like Tai. Charming, talkative, good looking, easy on the eyes… She would classify him as all of those things.

When Sora was a girl, her father filed for divorce and quickly married another woman a few weeks after the paperwork went through. Sora watched her mom break from the situation. The strongest woman she knew, crumbled from the actions of a man. Toshiko didn’t work for a month, her daughter having to deliver rice around town to pick up extra change. There were a few nights where Toshiko would disappear to her room for hours, Sora hearing her sobs from the hall. Sora vowed to never let someone have the power to make her feel that way. Since then, her mother has always pushed that a man is never worth the sacrifices, her career should be put first.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable on the bridge,” Tai said in the elevator, giving Sora soft smile. She knew he was being genuine and she hated how it made her heart beat faster.

She smiled back, shaking her head, “I wasn’t uncomfortable. I was just disappointed that you’ve only ever seen a skyline of tall buildings and bright lights.” The elevator doors opened and Sora stepped out, “It’s a shame, really. The mountains are gorgeous and you can see all of the stars because there are no bright lights on at night there…” She felt herself grow homesick. She missed the sound of the bugs, the tall grass, and the sound of the wind as it brushed through the tall trees. Here, she only heard car horns and loud people.

“That sounds nice,” Tai said, “Why’d you leave then? I’m sure you could have been scouted professionally from there. Especially if you got the attention of the program at the university.”

Sora shrugged and stopped in front of her door, turning to face him, “I needed a change of scenery I guess. I mean, the offer is impossible to pass up and you can’t argue with me on that,” he nodded in agreement, “And… My mom wanted me to experience something that wasn’t a small town with a couple hundred people.”

“So you just skipped all of the in between cities and moved straight to the biggest city,” Tai stated, smirking as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

Sora laughed, “Yeah. I don’t know what I’m doing, but it hasn’t been terrible.”

He glanced at her, “Really? It feels like I’ve been making Tokyo more terrible than good for you.”

She knew he was teasing, but she couldn’t push away the slight feeling of guilt. The man in front of her had been nothing but nice to her and she was making him feel like this? Back home, her teammates would try to push her to date. They wanted her to see that not every man was going to leave like her father, but she was always so hesitant. Sora did date, but it never surpassed casual.

“I’ve actually been enjoying Tokyo,” she left out her thoughts about him. _I’ve actually been enjoying Tokyo… With you._

“Did you want to come in?” He motioned across the hall to his door, “I can make us food… I think I have ice cream… Do you like scary movies? I just got new batteries so my remote is working,” he gave her a hopeful smile.

Sora wanted to. Her heart pulled her to accept his invitation. _He could be fun. A distraction from home._ Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Sora smiled at Tai.

“Actually…” She said, interrupted by the heavy footsteps of a woman hurrying out of the elevator.

“Tai,” the woman said, smiling as she joined them, “I’ve been calling you all night why haven’t been answering?”

Sora looked at the woman, her eyes taking her in. She was beautiful. Her chocolate brown hair cascaded down her back in thick curls, a lavender dress complimented the natural shape of her body.

The woman glanced at Sora, looking down on her, “Oh. Was I interrupting something?” She tilted her head, her perfect lips pulling up into a smile Sora could have sworn was challenging her.

 _She knocked my phone out of my hand…_ Realization hit her, _They were the fighting couple from the hallway._

Sora shook her head, “No no,” her gaze met Tai’s.

Tai shook his head quickly, “Hold on. Rhya what’re you doing here? How did you even get in?”

Rhya gave him an innocent smile, “I still have that extra keycard. You never asked for it back so I kept it…” She glanced at Sora again before returning her attention back to Tai, “And I was getting ready for the party tonight and realized my favorite jacket and pants were missing,” she shrugged.

“And why does that mean to come see me?” Tai asked. Sora wasn’t sure why she was still standing there. There was something entertaining happening. And she wasn’t sure if it was the woman thinking she was making Sora insecure… Or the way Tai was beginning to panic.

Rhya gave him a cat-like smile, “I missed you, Tai Tai.”

Sora fought the urge to smirk at the pet name, “I should leave you two alone,” she glanced at Tai, smirking as she caught his eyes, “Have a nice night, Tai Tai.” Quickly, Sora turned and unlocked her apartment and rushed in.

———

Tai stood in the hall, blocking out Rhya’s voice as he stared at Sora’s closed door. He was so close to having an actual conversation with her… But Rhya had to show up and take this from him too.

“Rhya…” He said, the woman still explaining how much she missed him and regretted cheating on him, “Rhya.” He raised his voice, Rhya quieting. Her hand rested on her chest, the woman acting surprised that Tai would be so stern with her.

“You can’t just show up like this. Give me the keycard,” he said, holding his hand out. Rhya blinked, “B-But Tai…” He shook his head, “Keycard.”

She pulled it from her bag and passed it to him, her gaze falling to the ground as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I don’t owe you anything anymore,” Tai said, “There are so many things I want to say to you, none of them great, but you aren’t worth the time it would take to list them all.”

“Let’s talk about this inside, Tai Tai,” Why said, giving him her signature smile.

He shook his head, “No. And I know I don’t have your shit. Like I said at the party, we are through. I don’t want to hear about how your now ex-boyfriend broke your heart because to be frank, you broke mine,” he began to unlock his door, “And then you show up and take this,” he pointed between Sora’s door and himself, “Away from me.”

Rhya opened her mouth to reply, only to be silenced by Tai shaking his head, “Goodnight, Rhya. Stop calling me.”

———

Sora lied down in bed. She stared at the ceiling, tracing the shapes the lights made as they poured through her curtains. She smirked, thinking of how she almost accepted Tai’s invitation.

Sora wasn’t positive where the invitation would have lead, but she was open to it. Then Rhya showed up, solidifying Sora’s initial judgement of Tai — He was the definition of men she should be avoiding.

She closed her eyes to rest, forcing Tai out of her thoughts and replacing him with thoughts of the first game of the season coming up in two weeks. Her walls slowly began to build themselves up again.

***Author’s Note***

**Ugh. Rhya. Had to bring her back for a liiiiittle okay? I’m trying to squish some mimato in at random moments. The next chapter is definitely more soccer and Sora filled :)**


	5. Hallway Ramen

**Hello everyone! Thank you for tuning in for the next chapter. I wanted to give a little disclaimer. Yes, I know that men and women have different soccer season (fall sport or spring sport), but for the sake of this fanfic, the seasons are now becoming one and happening simultaneously. Hope this doesn’t bug anyone too much!**

**Thank you thank you and enjoy!**

Chapter 5: Hallway Ramen

**-2 Weeks Later-**

The afternoon sun shown through the windows of Mimi’s apartment. Mimi scrunched her nose, “Did you have to bring your bag inside?” She glance at the black sports bag that was leaning against the wall of her front door.

“I told you you should’ve let me go home and shower first,” Sora said, chewing on the edge of her pencil as she finished a chapter of Pride and Prejudice.

Mimi pouted, “I was just so excited to finally get some time with you,” she walked to her hall cabinet and pulled out a spray bottle of Febreze, plugging her nose as she cautiously approached the bag. She aimed the spout and pressed the lever, a hissing sound signaling an endless amount of Febreze leaving the bottle, “It’s been like two weeks since I’ve seen you outside of class,” Mimi coughed, waving her hand rapidly in front of her face, “Are you sure you aren’t pissed about the size of the party? I feel… Avoided.”

Sora shook her, smirking slightly as the scent of the Febreze mixing with sweaty socks and cleats made Mimi sigh in frustration, “You and Taichi both. I don’t know how you can live with this smell constantly.”

Sora shrugged, “I don’t even smell it anymore.”

Mimi grabbed the handle, “I’m going to put it in the hall, okay? Okay.”

Sora nodded and flipped to the next page, chuckling to herself as she heard the front door open and her bag sag against the hallway wall.

“Anyway,” Mimi said, washing her hands before returning to the couch across from the armchair Sora was lounging in, the book propped on her thighs, “Are you sure you aren’t avoiding me? It’s been like… Pulling teeth trying to get you over here.”

Slipping her bookmark in between the pages, Sora sighed. She stretched her legs, her gaze shifting up to the ceiling, “I’m not avoiding you and I actually enjoyed the party. It’s just so hard balancing classes, soccer, and a social life right now… And I… Never mind,” Sora shook her head, returning her attention back to the book.

If she thought Mimi would drop it, she was poorly mistaken, “And you what?” Mimi leaned across the coffee table, her arm stretching to snatch the book from Sora’s hand.

“Hey!” Sora said, surprised at Mimi’a ability to stretch so far, “It’s nothing, Mimi. Really I promise. Now can I have the book back? It was just getting good…” She said, trying her best at Mimi’s puppy dog eyes.

Mimi rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue, “I don’t fall for my own tricks, Sora Takenouchi,” she closed the book and placed it on the top of the wooden coffee table, “Now spill. Why haven’t I seen you in two weeks?”

Sora curled her legs to her chest, glancing in Mimi’s direction. Mimi’s elbows were propped on her knees, her chin resting in the palms of her hands as she pinned Sora under her stare.

“Your have… Such a piercing gaze,” Sora held up her hand, blocking Mimi’s gaze, “Oh my gosh, stop it I’m just trying to finish this project, Mimi.”

Mimi shook her head, “See! You’re avoiding the question, meaning there is a reason I haven’t been able to get you over in two weeks.” She sat back in the couch, crossing her arms, “Are you sure it isn’t about me? Yamato did say I could be a bit overwhelming to some and since you’re new here maybe I scared you? I promise I can talk slower and less there is just always so much to talk about and-”

Sora pulled her hand down, interrupting Mimi, “Meems, it has nothing to do with you. I’ve loved getting to know you and it was so kind of you to introduce me to Tokyo. You’re like the best friend I have here.”

Mimi smiled triumphantly, “I knew it wasn’t me. I’m always a crowd favorite.” Sora blinked, amazed as Mimi’s confidence snapped back. _She’s a witch. The only explanation._

Holding Sora under her gaze for what felt like an eternity, Mimi let out a long breath, “Fiiiine,” she said, waving her hand as she passed Sora’s copy of Pride and Prejudice back to her, “I’ll drop it… I won’t _pry_ …” Sora watched Mimi fidget at the last word, knowing she was struggling to hold back her questions.

Sora gave her a thankful smile before returning her attention back to her book. She chewed the inside of her cheek, highlighting a passage. Mimi cleared her throat, her book still closed and propped against her hip. Trying to enjoy the silence, Sora let her eyes take in the words as Mr. Darcy tried his hardest to get Elisabeth Bennett to agree to a dance with him.

“You don’t open up much, do you,” Mimi said, the sentence more of a fact and less of a question. Taking a deep breath, Sora placed her bookmark back into her book and closed the cover.

“What makes you say that?” Sora asked, though this wasn’t the first time someone had pointed this out to her. It took a whole year for her to tell her friends her father had even moved out of the town, and another year until she told them why.

“Well,” Mimi said, “It’s obvious there is a reason for your absence outside of class…” she eyed Sora, reading her like a book, “And you are well aware of the reason… But you’re holding back. You can trust me, it’s nice to have someone to talk to about things,” Mimi gave her a genuine smile, “I love sharing things. Some may even call me an oversharer but who gives a crap what they think.”

Sora sighed as she rolled her shoulders. _Why is this so hard to share?_ She thought, looking across the room to Mimi, “Fine fine. I’ll share.” Sora cleared her throat as Mimi scooted to the edge of the couch, listening closely to what Sora had to say, “You know after the party at The Hall?”

Mimi nodded, “Oh yes. I mean, I remember the first half, but we were there, yes.”

Sora nodded, smiling as she remembered Mimi drunkenly yelling how much she loved her new friend Sora, “So, Tai and I walked home together and…”

“You two slept together,” Mimi said, nodding her head. Her excited expression turned to a pout as Sora’s face contorted into a look of disgust, “Fine fine… I jumped the gun… So you two walked back…” She waved Sora to continue.

“Yeah, anyway,” Sora tilted her head, pondering how to phrase the next part of the story, “I was really enjoying my time with him… As much as it pains me to say it, he seems great. Well, seemed,” she glanced at Mimi, the brunette leaning closer.

“Taichi is great,” Mimi said, “You really should let him take you out to ramen. I mean, if anything it’s free food at a nice restaurant.”

Sora shook her head, “It was nice, okay? Until someone else showed up,” Sora muttered, avoiding name dropping. She didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone.

Mimi gasped loudly, throwing her arms into the air, her copy of Pride and Prejudice going with them, “You don’t even have to _tell_ me a name for me to piece together what happened.” She gasped again, covering her mouth, “Ooooo she showed up? Oh my gosh hold on…” She grabbed her phone, swiping it unlocked as she began to scroll through contacts, “I am texting her right now. Who does she think she is?”

“Mimi, please don’t,” Sora said, standing from her chair as she tried to grab the phone from Mimi’s hands. Mimi was quick, the woman ducking from Sora’s reach, “Ha. Let me just…” Her phone screen went black, “Damnit I didn’t charge it last night.”

Sora held her chest, letting out a relieved breath, “Mimi, it’s okay. Really. I don’t need any distractions anyway. If anything, Rhya showing up helped me out, right?”

Mimi pinched the bridge of her nose, “Yeah I guess so… But you should know that Rhya is really just trouble. I doubt Taichi planned for her to show up,” she shook her head, “He was probably soooo mad… Was he mad?” She glanced at Sora, the redhead shrugging, “I didn’t stick around to find out.”

“He really means well,” Mimi said, “He’s not the malicious type and under that huge ego is an even bigger heart. Like…” She tapped her chin, “A teddy bear? No that’s too soft for Taichi… Along those lines,” there was a knock at the door, “Whatever you get it. So you weren’t avoiding me… You were avoiding the possibility of running into Tai.”

Sora nodded, another knock louder than the last sounded from the door.

“Uh huh…” Mimi said, smiling innocently, “Then like say I invited him and Yama over for lunch…”

Sora gave her a blank stare, “You what?” She whispered, eyeing the door, “Mimi I can’t just face him after I have been actively avoiding him. He definitely knows I don’t want to see him right now.”

Mimi sighed, “Then what better time and place than now to set things straight?”

“Mimi, no,” Sora said sharply, her voice barely above a whisper, “Absolutely not.” She began to gather her things, “And my freaking soccer bag is outside he’s definitely going to know I’m here now.”

Mimi nodded, smiling nervously, “A better reason to stay?”

Sora shook her head, “No no. I am finishing this book tonight,” Another knock followed by Yamato’s voice yelling for Mimi, “And I’ll text you. Sound good?” Sora felt her nerves begin to skyrocket.

She hated to admit it, but he was all she thought about for the past two weeks. Trying hard to push him to the back of her mind, only brought him more to the front. His chocolate brown eyes and his closeness in the hallway at the party seemed to be on replay in her memories. It didn’t help that he watched the end of all of her practices and tried to walk home with her afterwards. She’d been lying to him, obviously, saying she had things to read in the library. Sora didn’t even know where the library was.

“Bye, Mimi,” Sora said as she opened the front door.

“Oh,” Yamato said, smiling as the door opened to Sora, “Mimi didn’t tell me you’d be here for lunch. The more the merrier.”

“I was just leaving,” Sora said, flashing him a quick smile as she tried to avoid the tall brunette behind him. She glanced down the hall, frowning at the lack of soccer bag, “Have you seen a bag?”

“You mean this?” Tai said, holding her bag up.

Against her will, Sora let her eyes meet his. Her breath caught in her throat, time seeming to slow as she felt her nerves climb from her stomach to her chest, “Would you look at that. My bag.” She said, stepping into the hall as she reached to grab it.

Tai held her bag out of her reach, “Why are you avoiding me?” He said, smirking at her frantic reaction.

“Wh-What? Avoiding you… I-I…” She rolled her eyes, annoyed that now was the time her composure decided to crack, “I’m not avoiding you.”

Tai raised his eyebrows in disbelief, “Oh really? I think you most definitely are. The library is on the west side of campus, not the east. See? I can be observant.”

“You’re impossible,” Sora muttered.

Yamato cleared his throat, “I’ll see you inside, Tai.” Tai nodded, not breaking the eye contact he had with Sora.

“You think I’m the impossible one? You won’t even talk to me long enough to let me explain what happened with Rhya,” Tai said, finally lowering his arm to pass Sora her bag, “Also, don’t let Mimi put that in the hall. Your cleats are limited edition people will see those and take off with your bag.”

Sora grabbed her bag, “She said no one would take my bag…” She glanced at her cleats, the light blue color covering the heal of her boots with the matching laces.

“People have taken my bag,” Tai said, “And I really wish I was kidding.”

Flinging her bag over her shoulder, Sora turned to leave, “Thanks for the advice. See you around.”

“Sor, c’mon,” He said, Sora putting a hand in the air to wave at him before she turned down the corner and disappeared.

———

**-Game Day-**

Tai stood at the top of the stadium, scanning the gathering crowd as people began to settle in their seats. An arm shot out from the first row of seats at the end of the stairs, Mimi’s smiling face beaming at him from the seat next to it. Tai nodded towards her, acknowledging that he saw Yamato’s arm as he began to walk down the stairs to join them.

“Took you long enough,” Yamato said, “Congrats on the win this morning.”

Tai smiled, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his team jacket as he settled in next to Yamato, “Thanks. First goal of the season goes to me.”

Mimi rolled her eyes, “Tai, a compliment loses its meaning when you compliment yourself right after.” She chuckled, “Besides you weren’t the one who won the game, that was Nori. Right, Nori?” Mimi looked over her shoulder, Nori sitting in the seat right behind her, the rest of the men’s team filling in the remaining seats.

Nori let out a long sigh, “Welp, she does have a point. I did score the goal that broke the tie. Would’ve been 1-1 if it wasn’t for me.” He smirked in Tai’s direction, “And it seems like we’re tied for the goal record this season.”

Tai shook his head, “Nah, I could’ve scored a second. Looking forward to beating you again this season. I’m sure I’ll pass you up soon enough.”

“We’ll see, Tai,” Nori said as he sat back in his seat, “We’ll see.”

“Did it ever occur to you guys that someone from the women’s team could pass you both up?” Izzy said as he peered around Mimi, glancing between Tai and Nori, “Because that would be amazing.”

Nori shook his head, “They don’t average as many goals as we do per game. Statistics don’t add up for that to be a possibility.”

Tai shrugged, “What he said. Thought you were a math whiz, Izzy.”

Izzy shook his head, “I code, Tai. Hardly any math involved… But I’m not too bad at math either. Statistics are also only probabilities… And a probability is never zero,” Izzy said, noting the blank stares from Nori and Tai as they processed what he said.

“Oh my god,” Mimi added, “It means there’s still a possibility that one of the women could pass you both up in goals. This is elementary stuff.”

“Wow, Meems,” Tai said, “I’m impressed.” Nori nodded in agreement.

“I don’t know why you all think I’m not smart,” she said, smacking Yamato lightly in the arm as he smirked at her claim, “What’s that smirk for we all have ‘blonde’ moments, blondie.”

Yamato held his hands up, “I didn’t say anything and I am staying out of this.” He stretched, his arm resting around the back of Mimi’s chair, “You got us great seats though, Meems.” He said, hoping to change the subject.

Mimi smiled, “Right?” She leaned forward, her hands gripping the railing, “Front row. I wanted to make sure Sora saw us here supporting her.”

“She’s going to be so excited Taichi’s here,” Yamato said, smirking as Tai tilted his head back and let out an annoyed groan.

“Oh?” Nori said, “Red got beef with you? You already scared her off?” He smrirked, “Good I can’t have anyone distracting her from me.”

Mimi’s head flipped around at the speed of light, “You stay away from Sora, Nori. She is not to be messed with, okay? Off limits. I have great plans for her.”

Nori shook his head, “I’m kidding. Rini would kill me if she saw me trying to get with other women. I’m not in the mood for that drama I just like getting under Tai’s skin.” Nori would be stupid to get between Mimi and one of her plans.

“Just making sure,” Mimi said as she turned back towards the field, “Yama when does the game start I feel like we’ve been here for hours.”

Yamato checked the time on his phone, “Well, they should be warming up in about three minutes… So the game starts in an hour.”

Mimi nodded, trying to hide an anxious sigh, “I’ve just never been this anxious about a game before! Is this what it’s like to be into sports?”

Tai blinked, “I can’t believe it. You’ve been to plenty of my games and you’ve never been a smidge nervous or excited about it?”

Mimi held up a finger, “Yeah yeah sure, Tai. Not everything is about you.”

Yamato glanced to Tai, “Don’t start with her. She hasn’t eaten in two hours and won’t let me buy her a pretzel,” Yamato took a deep breath, “I get nervous and excited about your games if it makes you feel any better.”

Tai grinned, “That actually does makes me feel better,” he wiped a tear from his eye, “You’re gonna make me cry, Yama!” He said, his tone mimicking Mimi’s.

Yamato rolled his eyes as he pushed from his seat, “I’m going to buy a pretzel. Anyone else want anything?”

Mimi shook her head, “I’m not hungry. Thanks.” Little did she know, the pretzel was for her. The rest of the group shook their heads, “I have my gatorade, thanks though,” Nori said.

Another hour passed, Mimi eating a second pretzel in hopes that it would calm her nerves to avoid chewing her nails down to their nail beds, “What if she’s not okay? Do you think she’s okay?” She said, glancing to Yamato.

Yamato gave her a reassuring smile, “Mimi, for the fifth time, we just watched her warm up and she seemed just fine.” Mimi nodded, “Ugh, you’re right.” She shoved the remaining pretzel into her mouth.

Players began to fill out the field, Mimi frowning as she saw Rini in the center mid position and not Sora, “Why is Rini starting?”

Nori leaned down to answer, “Sora is new. She has to earn her spot. You don’t just start a game over someone who has been playing on the team for two years.”

Mimi nodded, “Oh… Okay that makes sense.”

Kazue took her place in goal, giving Nori and the rest of the men’s team a wave with a gloved hand. Nori returning her wave with a thumbs up. Eri took her position at right forward, the heels of her cleats lining up with the sideline. Rini stood at the center of the field with Aiya, the center forward of the team.

“Oh my god it’s starting,” Mimi said quickly, gripping the sleeve of Yamato’s shirt as the ref blew the whistle.

“And they’re off!” Nori said as he lounged back in his seat, “Any bets on first goal? Izzy you’ve been into statistics all day let’s test those probability skills.”

Izzy sighed, “Agh, I don’t think you’ll like what I have to say. I did some reading on the team they’re playing today… Hard matchup.” The opposing team had placed second in the district last year, the university’s team placing fifth.

“But our girls can pull through, right?” Mimi asked, glancing over Yamato to Tai for confirmation. Tai shrugged, not offering a response. “Don’t tell me I’m finally interested in soccer and it’s going to be a blowout… Hey, ref! C’mon! What are ya blind?” Mimi said, yelling at the ref as Eri was pummeled to the ground.

“Anyway,” Izzy said, giving Mimi a reassuring smile as about yelling at the ref, “ I think the other team has first goal.”

“Thou hath little faith,” Nori said, shaking Izzy’s hand just in time to see the ball sink into the back of the net, Kazue punching the ground in frustration, “Fair enough, statistics boy,” Nori muttered as he passed Izzy a five.

“Noooooo!” Mimi said, “Yama, I can’t watch anymore. This is terrible I hate how much my hands are sweating. This stress is going to ruin my hair for a week.” She leaned against him, burying her face into the crook of his neck as the game began again.

Yamato chuckled, “It’s only one goal, Meems. I’m sure they can catch up… Right, Tai?”

Tai shrugged again, “I still can’t believe Mimi never acted like this at my games… Can’t say I’m not hurt.”

“You’re games are always so boring,” Mimi said, interrupting Yamato before he could reply, “I don’t care to watch you sprint up and down a field. I need drama. Grit. Angst… Like look at them!” She waved to the field, Rini and the other team’s mid colliding, the sound of their shinguards hitting echoing through the stadium, “You men are too weak to be entertaining,” she returned her attention to the game.

“You think that too?” Tai asked Yamato.

Yamato smirked, “What? No… Not at all. The exact opposite actually.”

Tai smiled, only to quickly frown as Yamato chuckled, “You’re an ass, Yamato.”

Izzy glanced at the field as the ref blew the whistle to stop play, “Rini isn’t getting up… This isn’t good for their odds of winning…”

The blonde was lying on the ground, her hands gripping her left ankle. Eri knelt beside her, trying to get Rini to straighten her leg so she could look at it. Finally letting go, Rini let Eri look at her ankle, her face dropping into one of unease.

“That’s no good,” Tai muttered, earning a frantic glance from Mimi.

“Why? Is she hurt?” Mimi asked, standing to lean on the rail to get a closer look.

Tai nodded, “I don’t want to be pessimistic… But I don’t think ankles usually bend that way.”

Nori stood, gasping at the sight of Rini’s ankle hanging at a weird angle from her leg, “I’m going to the sideline to make sure she’s taken care of. I’ll keep you all updated.”

A medic ran on the field, scooping Rini into his arms as he carried her off of the field.

“Looks like Joe is getting some medical action sooner than expected this season,” Yamato said.

“I’m just happy he stopped fainting at the sight of blood,” Tai added, “Hopefully he fairs better with a broken ankle.” Joe stood, wiping his forehead as he began to talk with the rest of the medical team.

Mimi sighed, “Does this mean the game is over? Did we lose?”

Tai shook his head, “No, Meems. This is why teams have subs. Someone else will be out in for Rini.”

“Someone like Sora?!” Mimi said excitedly, “I mean, I am so beyond sorry about Rini’s ankle, but like,” she glanced back at the field, gasping as Sora took her position for the free kick, “Oh no.”

Yamato gave Mimi a confused look, “What? I thought you’d be excited to see Sora out there.”

Mimi groaned anxiously, “Me too but seeing her out there is only increasing my anxiety. Oh my god is this how my parents felt at my dance recitals? What if she gets hurt? Will she be okay? That bitch better not break Sora’s ankle too or I swear she’ll learn who I am real quick.”

“Sora will be just fine, Mimi,” Tai said, “Now sit back down you’re making me nervous.”

“Mimi is making you nervous?” Yamato asked, raising an eyebrow, “Or are you also a bit anxious about your new woman of interest being on the field?”

Izzy interrupted, “Did I miss something? Woman of interest? No, Tai you can’t get involved with her. Her and I had a deal and I don’t want you interfering with it.”

Tai tilted his head, “A deal? Did you already get her to conspire against me with you, Izzy?” Tai crossed his arms, “I don’t even know what you’d want to see me fail in, but I’m watching you.”  
Izzy smirked, not replying as the ball was kicked back into play.

Eri dribbled the ball down the sideline, the energy of the game shifting as the women began to play for Rini. She crossed the ball, watching as it soared to the middle of the eighteen. A defender from the other team knocked it just before Aiya could get to it. Eri turned to run back to defend, gasping in surprise as Sora trapped the rebound and quickly fired back a shot at the goal.

The ball slipped through the top right corner, the goalkeeper falling to the ground as she dove.

“She just scored… She scored a goal,” Mimi said, “OH MY GOD GO SORA! YAAAY!”

Izzy joined in, standing as he clapped, “Woooo!”

Yamato glanced at Tai, noting how his friend didn’t join in on the cheering, “Not gonna cheer for her?”

Tai scratched his head, paying no mind to Yamato, “How the hell did she make a shot like that…” Yamato smirked, returning to cheering with the others.

———

The game continued, Sora trying to keep her nerves at bay. Maybe that goal was just luck, she thought. Shortly after she scored, the other team got past the defense and scored another.

She glanced at the time on the scoreboard, _15 minutes left_ … And it’s 2-2, Eri scoring the second goal for the team.

“How are you holding up?” Eri asked as she positioned herself a little off from Sora, “We can do this. Their defense plays high I can easily slip you and Aiya a through ball.”

Sora nodded, “Okay. Next time I have the ball I’ll be looking for you.”

The ball came, Sora passing it wide to Eri as her and Aiya began their runs to the goal. Eri passed it through the defensive line.

“Through!” Sora called, Aiya listening as she let the ball pass through her legs and right to Sora’s feet. Without hesitating, Sora kicked the ball to the goal.The ball hit the center post, bouncing straight down. The goalkeeper scrambled to grab the ball, a second too late as the ref on the sideline raised her flag, signaling a goal.

Aiya jumped in excitement, running to give Sora a high five. Sora smiled excitedly, “Nice through ball!”

“Forget my through ball, nice shot!” Aiya said, “How are you sinking them from outside the eighteen? It’s like a super power.”

Sora shrugged, “I don’t know, honestly. Luck maybe!”

Eri joined in the celebrating, “It’s skill. Just call it skill, Sora. We aren’t humble in Tokyo like your little mountain town.”

Sora blushed softly, _Five more minutes._ We can hold them.

———

“You know what this means, right?” Izzy asked, smirking as Tai focused on the field after Sora’s second goal. Tai shook his head. Izzy’s smirk widened, “She’s ahead of you _and_ Nori in goals.”

Tai chuckled, “I’m not worried about that, Iz. I’ll pass her up in no time…” The end of his sentence lacking his usual confidence. Tai wasn’t so sure after he watched Sora sink two shots into the net from outside the eighteen, something hardly done by most pros. The man smiled to himself, he couldn’t wait to congratulate her and convince her to teach him how to shoot so well from that distance. _Quite the long shot._ He groaned, rubbing his eyes as he remembered her avoiding him since the party.

The game ended, the women winning 3-2. Mimi smiled, finally loosening her grip on Yamato’s arm, “Woo. I wasn’t worried at all. I was so sure they were going to win from the first whistle. What a ride.”

Yamato smiled, clenching and unclenching his hand to get the blood back into it. Mimi’s death grip had ended up making his hand white and numb, “You sure? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you more scared and worried.”

Mimi flashed him a smile, “I was fine. Oh look!” She said, waving at Sora and Eri as the two gathered their bags, “Sora!” She yelled, “Sora!”

“Might as well stop trying, Meems. She’s avoiding us,” Tai said, smirking as Mimi tried to wave down Sora.

The redhead looked up, giving Mimi a smile as she began to make her way towards the group.

“She’s avoiding you, Taichi, not us,” Mimi said, sticking her tongue out playfully. Yamato chuckling darkly. Tai glared at his friend, “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Hey,” Sora said, “I’m kind of surprised to see you here. I didn’t take you as someone who watched sports, Mimi,” she gave the rest of the group a smile, even Tai.

“Oh my dear Sora,” Mimi said, grabbing Sora’s hand, “I didn’t come for the sport I came for you! If anything, I’ve deemed myself your good luck charm. Looks like you’re stuck with me at every game.”

Sora chuckled softly, “Don’t start that or I’ll start believing it. Superstitions are huge in sports.”

“Yeah,” Yamato added, “Kind of like how Tai has to hit the top of his doorway three times before a game or he won’t score a goal.”

“It works,” Tai said, “I promise it works.” Sora nodded in agreement, Tai finding himself smiling at her as she gave him some acknowledgement, followed by the feeling of butterflies in his stomach.

Sora took a deep breath, “Well I should get back to the team… I’ll talk to you guys later.” With a wave, Sora turned and headed towards the locker room.

Mimi smiled, “Alright gang, let’s get going. I’m starving.”

“Mimi you inhaled like three pretzels,” Izzy said, Mimi glaring at him, “But you could definitely use more food! I am so sorry I questioned you.” He laughed nervously, Mimi nodding.

“That reminds me…” Mimi looked towards Tai, “You owe someone ramen. And tonight I’m sure she’d love some celebratory ramen…” She gave him a wink before linking her arm in Yamato’s, “See you later, Taichi!”

“Bye guys,” he said, glancing back towards Sora as the woman disappeared into the locker room.

———

Sora sprawled on her couch, the woman exhausted from the game. She immediately showered when she got home, a nap quickly following. A knock from her door scared her awake, the redhead jolting up from her couch. She rubbed her eyes, glancing at the time. _8’ o clock at night? Who could that even be?_

She lied back on the couch, closing her eyes as she willed the knocking away. Another knock came, three in a row. Groaning, Sora flung her legs off of the couch. She pulled a tank top on to hide her sports bra and pulled on a pair of sweats.

Another round of knocks came, “I’m coming I’m coming,” she said, the knocks stopping. She sighed, opening the door mid yawn.

“Why am I not surprised that it’s you who is knocking on my door this late?” She said, taking in Taichi Kamiya as he stood in the hall, a paper bag in each of his hands. The two stood in silence, Sora avoiding his grinning face. She cursed herself for feeling excited about it being him, “What do you want?”

Tai shrugged, “I owed you ramen, right?” He held up the bags, “And I wanted to congratulate you on your first game AND your two goals… Did I interrupt a nap?” Tai eyed her hair, the red strands pressed to the air on the side of her head. She smoothed them down, rolling her eyes.

Sora smiled softly, “Thanks but why do you have two orders… Of ramen…” She pointed between the two bags, crossing her arms as she leaned against her doorway. _He doesn’t think I’m letting him in here does he?_

Tai smiled innocently, “I thought we could celebrate together?” He passed her a bag.

Sora smirked, taking the bag as she gave him a wink, “Thanks for the ramen.” She closed her front door quickly, pressing her back to it. She swallowed nervously. _What the hell was that._ She asked her body, her heart beating against her chest as she felt a familiar heat begin to climb her neck. Sora blushed at her own reaction of seeing Tai so close.

She jumped in surprise as a knock came from her door again, followed by Tai’s muffled voice, “I will eat this in the hallway, Sor. Right next to your door. On the ground.”

Sora smiled, laughing quietly, “No one’s home!” She yelled back, pressing her ear against the door to hear his response. She frowned when one didn’t come. The smell of the ramen wafted from the bag, making her stomach growl. _Maybe he did go home._

She unpacked the ramen, a weird feeling of guilt beginning to push at her heart. _He did buy this ramen for me… The least I could do is let him eat it with me._ Her eyes widened, _Unless he takes that as a date… This is_ not _a date…_ She hated how she wanted it to be a date.

Sighing, Sora walked to her front door and opened it. She peeked out, her eyes landing on Tai sitting by her door, a bite of noodles halfway to his mouth.

“Fine come in,” she said, waving him in as she went back to her kitchen.

Tai smiled triumphantly as he followed her in, “I’m flattered you even checked to see if I was there. I guess you do care.”

She shook her head, “You’re cruel.” A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“I actually wanted to say I’m sorry,” Tai said.

Sora stopped preparing her ramen and turned to look at him, “For what? I’m not mad at you, Taichi. I just had other things to worry about other than who you decided to hang out with.”

Tai pointed his chopsticks at her, “That’s what I wanted to say sorry for, alright? I didn’t think Rhya would show up at my apartment. We broke up a few months ago. I’m sorry about it and I am, admittedly, upset at Rhya for interrupting our wonderful evening.” He took another bite, watching Sora do her best to avoid his gaze, “I was having a good time with you.”

Sora turned to get a glass of water, hoping to hide the reddening of her cheeks. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had this effect on her. Turning back to him, Sora replied, “You don’t need to apologize for someone else, Taichi,” she smiled at her ramen, extra bamboo shoots like she jokingly requested, “I guess I’m sorry for avoiding you… I’m just not… Used to someone… Never mind it’s stupid,” she shoved a bite into her mouth, feeling like she already said too much.

Tai moved his ramen closer to her, leaning across the table, “Used to someone… What?” He smirked, knowing where this was going.

“I-I…” Sora stuttered, “I just… You are so… It’s really nothing,” she muttered as she took another bite, staring at the top of the table.

Tai chuckled, winking, “I was really starting to think you were immune to my charms, Sora. Happy to see that you aren’t.”

“Get out of my apartment,” she said, rubbing her temples. She was only half joking.

Tai laughed, “You’ve got some charm to you too, you know.”

She looked up and readied to make a snarky remark about how her charm never works out like his, but her eyes met his across the table. Sora had seen his eyes more moments than she would have liked, but something was different about this time. Tai’s wasn’t looking at her, he was seeing her. She blushed, feeling pinned underneath his gaze at the air left her lungs.

The air between them felt electric, she watched his throat bob as he swallowed. She fought the urge to pull him to her, the only sound in the apartment being their breathing.

———

Tai held Sora’s gaze. This was not how he expected his night to go. He was mesmerized, her crimson orbs coaxing him to lean across the table and place his fingers on her chin, pulling her lips to his.

Quite honestly, Tai had planned to take a few bites of ramen in the hallway before heading back into his own apartment. He struggled to explain the excitement he felt when she opened her door to allow him in.

Sora was a piece of work, Tai had decided that much. He only had one real conversation with her, and yet she had him under a spell. His pulse quickened, he knew what it meant to want to give a person everything.

“I’m ahead of you in goals now,” she said quickly, snapping him from the trance.

“Wh-What?” He asked, clearing her throat. _How did she recover so quickly?_

“Goals for the season,” she said, smirking, “I’m one ahead of you.”

Tai chuckled, “For now, Sora… For now.”

Sora shrugged, “I happen to score a lot of goals, Taichi.”

Tai shook his head, “You’re still a center mid. What opportunities are you going to have other than outside of the eighteen. Those shots are next to impossible.”

She tapped her chin, “I remember scoring… How many of those… Oh! Two of those kinds of shots today,” she grinned as he rolled his eyes. She already knew how to rile him up, “And they happen to be my specialty.”

“Goody,” Tai said, “I average at least two goals a game. And that’s a lot,” he held up his hand before she could speak, “Don’t comment about how I only scored one today, Sora, my heart can’t handle it.”

“Fine, I’ll play fair,” she said quietly, taking another bite of ramen.

“First you beat me at the drinking game, breaking my heart because that meant no date… Then you pass me up in goals… And don’t think I’m going to forget how you almost let me eat ramen in the hallway,” he chuckled as her signature annoyed look returned to her soft features.

“Oh please. We’re eating together now, right?” She motioned between them.

Excellent, Tai thought. He smiled at her, “Oooooh I see. So this is the date I wanted.” Her eyes widened. She quickly shook her head, “This is a great first date, Sora. I’m having such a great time.” He pushed it more, laughing as she tried to deny it.

Tai looked at his bowl, frowning at the lack of ramen. He looked up to Sora’s bowl, smiling as Sora pushed her leftovers across the table to him, “I’m not doing this because I’m trying to share my food with you, okay? I hate second-day ramen,” she muttered, hiding her blush.

“Sure sure,” he said, finishing her bowl, “Maybe next time you’ll let me take you out for real.” Sora smiled, shaking her head, not replying to his statement. _Good enough for me,_ he thought.

He began to clean up, Sora telling him to leave everything where it was because she could handle it.

“No, Tai,” she said, “You bought the ramen just let me clean my apartment.”

“Sora I can’t let you do that. That’s a complete asshole move,” he said, reaching to grab her bowl as well. She grabbed his wrist before he could grab her bowl. He glanced down at her, Sora pressed closely to his side. He could feel her breathing stop, their eyes meeting again. Tai felt himself begin to get lost in her gaze. _I’m gonna do it_ , he thought, leaning down closer to her.

“I can clean…” Sora said.

“You’re not cleaning up,” Tai said softly, smiling softly as Sora didn’t pull away from the closeness of his lips to her own. He could’ve sworn she smiled back.

His lips pressed to her’s, the exchange quick. He pulled away, reading her face for any sign that she didn’t want to be kissed. She looked up at him, her fingers wrapping in the collar of his shirt as she pulled him down into another kiss. Tai dropped the empty bowl to the table, sighing into the kiss as Sora pressed up on the tips of her toes.

Tai had never been kissed the way Sora kissed him. She felt like fire, his desire for her burning through him like a never-ending flame. He couldn’t get close enough to her. She fit perfectly against him, Tai rethinking his definition of love. Was it too soon for him to start considering these feelings? Was it just attraction?

He felt Sora’s arms snake around his neck, pulling him down to deepen the kiss.

*Knock knock knock*

Sora jumped in surprise, pulling away from him. She cleared her throat, “More ramen, maybe?” She chuckled nervously as she rushed to answer the door.

Tai was left breathless standing at the table, his hand moving to his chest to make sure his heart was still beating. His features were flushed, his stomach anxious.

“Sorry to be over so late!” A voice said, Tai groaning in annoyance as Mimi’s chirpy tone filled Sora’s apartment, “I’ve actually never been over!”

Sora replied, “Yeah I know. Did you need anything?” Tai heard two pairs of footsteps approaching from the kitchen.

“Oh no I was just wanting to make sure Taichi brought you ramen,” she gasped as she saw Tai holding two empty ramen bowls.

“Hey, Meems. I have never been more happy to see you,” Tai said, knowing Mimi didn’t pick up on the tone of his voice.

Mimi smiled, “See Sora? So charming so charming.”

Sora smiled, “Sure. If that’s what you’d call it.” Tai shot her a playful glare, Sora winking in response, “Tai was actually just leaving. I’m also exhausted. How about I walk you both out?”

Mimi nodded. Tai stood, stopping next to Sora, “I was? I thought we could hang…” Sora pushed him towards her front door.

“Bye you two,” Sora said as she ushered them into the hall, “Thank you for the ramen, Tai.” Sora closed the door.

Mimi smiled at Tai, “I saw how you were watching her. You’re in trouble, Taichi. Someone has a crush,” she chuckled, “Like a sweet little puppy dog you are!”

Tai laughed, “Yeah whatever, Meems. How’d you get into the building?”

Mimi shrugged, “A woman never reveals her secrets, Tai. That’s against the code… Have a nice night. Behave!” She gave him a quick hug before she headed off to the elevators.

Tai smiled to himself as he laid down to sleep, thoughts of Sora swimming in his mind. He touched his lips, hoping he would get the chance to kiss her like he kissed him.

**I hope you all enjoyed! :) Thank you for keeping up for this long!**

**\- Moon**


	6. Advice

**Hi everyone! I am so excited to be updating this story. It's been so fun being able to write a story that wasn't so heavy with the emotions. I'm happy you all seem to be enjoying the story and thank you so much for your support and keeping up with my updates! :)**

**Also, this chapter is lacking a little in the Taiora department (gotta have some type of build up!) but the next one will deliver. :)**

Chapter 6: Advice

**-Sora's Apartment-**

Sora closed her door as she ushered Mimi and Tai out of her apartment. She turned the lock, taking a deep breath to calm herself as her thoughts ricocheted against the walls of her skull. _He kissed me… And I just kissed him back._

"Oh no…" She whispered to herself, her back pressing to the door as she slid to the floor, "Oh no." She shook her head, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

It's not that Sora didn't enjoy the kiss, no that was far from the problem. Sora slipped her phone from her pocket, phoning her mother.

"Hi mom," Sora said, her eyes staring at the empty ramen bowls that were left on the tabletop.

 _"Hi, Bug,"_ Toshiko's voice echoed from the speaker, _"I was just about to call you. I watched the game on the television. Congrats on your big win."_ Sora smiled at the pride behind her mother's words. Maybe all of this is worth it.

"Thanks, mom," Sora said, closing her eyes, "I… I actually needed advice."

Toshiko cleared her throat, her voice taking on a more serious tone, _"Is everything okay? I can get on the next train and be there by the morning."_

Sora chuckled, "No no… It's nothing serious I just… Uh…" She found herself struggling to find the words. Her mother was always so adamant on avoiding relationships and focusing on careers, she was nervous her mother would scold her for being so quick to fall for someone.

 _"Oh c'mon, Sora. You can tell,"_ Toshiko said, trying her best to give Sora the floor.

Sora took a deep breath. "Soooo there's this guy…" She closed her eyes, waiting for her mother to interrupt her. Silence fell on the other side of the phone, Sora's nerves on end.

 _"Go on,"_ Toshiko said. Sora swore she could hear her mother's smirk through the phone, _"So there's this guy… Tell me about him."_

"Well I… Wait…" Sora stopped. She wasn't sure how she expected her mother to react, but she didn't expect this. "You don't think it's a bad idea? You're not going to tell me how I should be focusing on my education and career?"

Toshiko chuckled, _"Oh no… I mean I personally wouldn't be getting involved with anyone. But we both know I don't have the best track record with partners."_

Sora let out a long breath, "This is true… I just don't even know him well. I already kissed him and I could _not_ tell you what possessed me to." She tilted her head back, the back of her head resting on the door.

 _"Well do you like him? It's okay to like people and date, Sora,"_ Toshiko said, chuckling again at her daughter's predicament, _"I'm not going to scold you and ground you for dating someone. You're twenty-one you can take care of yourself."_

Sora smiled, "I was kind of hoping you would tell me how bad of an idea this is."

 _"When I said to focus on your education and career, I didn't mean you shouldn't have other life experiences,"_ Toshiko said, _"Do I think boys only bring trouble? Sure. Do I think dating and enjoying someone for who they are is worth it? Absolutely. Do not rob yourself of experiences just because you're a little scare of what could be."_

Sora took in her mother's words. Realization hit her. She was scared of what could happen with Tai. What if she gave her whole self to him and it wasn't enough?

 _"I know the silence means you are overthinking this,"_ Toshiko said.

"N-No it's not… Okay yes," Sora chuckled, "I'm just scared of losing myself to someone… And them leaving."

Toshiko sighed, _"You have to let what happened with your father go, Bug. I know I push how bad men are, and for that I will always be hard on myself because of the mindset I have lead you to, but you must know that some of them are worth the risk,"_ Toshiko paused, continuing when Sora didn't reply, _"Besides… I think our little door man from your move in day might be worth the risk. He was a cutie."_

Sora's eyes widened, "How did you… Mom I don't even know how you would have that information."

Toshiko laughed, _"Mother's intuition."_

Sora laughed with her, "Okay mom… Thank you."

 _"Anytime,"_ Toshiko said, _"Remember to be safe. I have given you the talk but I will give it to you again. Do you need me to send you cond-"_

Sora's face heated up, "Goodbye mother! Love you!" She pressed the red button to hang up, shaking her head with a smile as she stood to clean up the ramen bowls.

—

**-Mimi's Apartment-**

"I can't believe it's already October. Time flies," Mimi said, her teeth gritting together as she pushed a carving knife into the top of a round, orange pumpkin.

Yamato chuckled, "Mimi, October is a week away." He glanced up from his own pumpkin, trying to hide his smirk as Mimi used her body weight to cut off the top of the pumpkin, "Do you need help? I can cut the top off for you if you want?"

Mimi shook her head, "Nope! I can… Do it…" She said between struggles, "Just going… To take… More time than… I anticipated…" She smiled victoriously as her carving knife finished a full circle, the pumpkin stem easily coming off, "Ha! See."

Yamato smiled, "What are you going to carve into it?"

Mimi shrugged, "I was thinking your face. It's just so perfect…," she smirked and glanced up, Yamato sitting across from her on the floor with his own pumpkin.

Yamato nodded, smiling at her compliment, "I'm honored. I'm carving a cat," he began to carve, the carving knife moving up and down as he traced the shape he drew in sharpie.

It had been two days since Mimi barged in on Sora and Tai's supposed ramen date. She hadn't forgiven herself for obviously interrupting a moment. The red tint on Sora's cheeks when she answered the door… Tai's piercing glare when she saw him standing by the dining table… Something had happened and no one was spilling.

"Have you talked to Taichi recently?" Mimi asked, trying to sound unbothered.

Yamato shrugged, "Not more than usual. He actually might stop by with Izzy soon… He offered to grab us some coffee on his way home from practice. Said he needs advice," Yamato smirked, "Urgently."

Mimi raised an eyebrow, "What type of advice?"

Yamato glanced up, "He didn't say…" He squinted at Mimi, "Why? Do you have some ideas on what he might need advice for?"

Mimi shrugged, "Maybe a certain redhead has tangled Tai in her web." She returned her attention back to her pumpkin.

"That much is obvious," Yamato said, "I wish he would just drop it. I don't think she's into him."

Mimi shook her head, "I don't know… They seemed cozy the other night when he brought her ramen."

Yamato let out a long sigh, "Mimi did you barge in on their ramen date?" This wasn't the first time Mimi couldn't stay out of one of her friend's love life, "Remember what happened when you did that to poor Izzy? She can't even look at him anymore."

Mimi held up a finger, "We don't speak about that and it was an accident." She scooped out a handful of pumpkin seeds, tossing the clump at Yamato to hopefully change the subject.

Yamato gasped as the clump of pumpkin seeds and strings landed on his leg, sticking to the dark denim of his jeans, "I know you're trying to change the subject…" He grabbed his own clump, "And it's working."

"No! Please! My hair wash day is in three days, Yamato," she tried to stand, giggling as he grabbed her wrist to keep her sitting. He smirked, his lips pressing repeatedly to one of her cheeks while his pumpkin-filled hand pressed to the other.

She squealed, giggling as his kisses made their way to her lips. Mimi kissed him back, pouting as he pulled away, the pumpkin sliding from her cheek to the floor.

"Gross," a voice said from the front door, "And I'm not talking about the pumpkin that's smeared across your face, Meems."

Yamato groaned, annoyed that the moment was interrupted, "How did you get in, Tai? You don't have a key."

Tai shrugged, handing them their coffees, "Mimi doesn't lock her door. Ever."

Mimi clicked her tongue, glancing at Yamato, "Guilty."

Izzy shook his head, "Mimi you need to be more careful. You're a woman living alone and next time it might not be Tai breaking into your apartment."

Mimi sighed, "It's fine I literally know how to choke someone out with their own t-shirt. I've taken plenty of self defense classes." She stood, stretching her legs.

"Oh please," Tai said, "You might be taller for a woman, but you're still tiny I could easily take you- Ooof!" Tai bent over and gasped for breath as Mimi's fist made contact with his stomach, "Sorry… I was wrong…"

She smiled victoriously, "Not so big and tough now are you!" She looked at Izzy, "Anything to add, short stack?"

Izzy quickly shook his head, "Nope! You are beyond capable."

Yamato shook his head, smirking as Tai rubbed his stomach and flinched as Mimi teasingly raised her fist at him.

"You actually put up with this?!" Tai said to Yamato, stepping back as Mimi faked a lunge at him, "She's like one of those small dogs that bites ankles! Ankle biter!" Tai said, moving to the opposite side of the room.

"That's right," Mimi said, tucking a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear, "Run away…" she glanced at the coffee, "Wait why are you actually here? You didn't come to carve pumpkins, right? Yama said something about advice…"

Tai groaned, "That's weird because I specifically told him not to tell anyone I wanted advice…"

Yamato shrugged, "Oh c'mon it's just Mimi."

Tai gestured to Izzy, "And now Izzy!"

Yamato waved his hand, "Yeah yeah quit being dramatic. What did you want advice on?"

The room grew silent, Tai nervously fidgeting with his fingers, "Well," he said, Mimi sitting to begin carving her pumpkin again, "I usually don't need help in the ladies department," Yamato rolled his eyes as Tai continued, "but I… I'm a little confused and stumped on what to do."

"It seemed like things were going well during ramen the other night," Mimi said as she squinted at the shape she carved, poking the loose piece of pumpkin out.

Tai glared at Mimi, "Things were going great until someone showed up because she can't help but be nosey."

Mimi shrugged, "I knew you weren't going to tell me any details so I thought I would go investigate myself." Yamato laughed softly, Tai's glare shifting from Mimi to the blonde.

"What are you laughing at? I remember you banging on my door at 3am a few months ago after you drunkenly slept with our best friend," Tai said, Yamato sighing in annoyance.

"Great," Yamato said, "You had to bring that up."

Mimi glanced up from her pumpkin, "Awe, you freaked out? I do have a tendency of making men nervous."

Yamato shook his head, "Anyway, are you just confused that a woman is finally resisting your charm? It's refreshing. Why didn't you invite her today?" He asked Mimi.

Mimi replied, "I did! She's hanging out with her teammates tonight. She did say she might be free after the game tomorrow."

Tai clapped his hands together, "That's just it, Yamato. She didn't resist this," he jabbed his thumb to his chest, "She actually kissed me and now I'm confused because I haven't heard from her in two days."

"Damn," Yamato said, "I thought we finally found one, Iz."

Izzy nodded, "It is kind of disappointing, isn't it. I will say it is entertaining watching Tai be on the brink of a nervous breakdown from how badly he wants to date her."

"You aren't helping, Izzy," Tai said, "I thought you were the nice one of the group."

Izzy laughed, "No I think I'm more of the neutral one."

Tai nodded, "Huh. Never thought of it that way… Everything makes a bit more sense now…"

"Have you actually tried talking to her about it?" Yamato asked, snapping Tai out of his analysis of Izzy.

Tai shook his head, "No. No I haven't. Honestly," Tai said, clearing his throat, "I can't believe I'm going to say this… But she kind of intimidates me. I've never been this nervous around anyone…" He groaned in frustration, "And I never got her number so I can't even send her a text about it."

"Oh, sweet Taichi," Mimi said, "I wish I could say I was also enjoying seeing you this freaked about a woman, but it's honestly a little pathetic. If you really want her, go get her." She waved her hand before turning her pumpkin around, "Thoughts?"

Tai blinked in disbelief, "P-Pathetic? Jeez, Meems. Cut me some slack… If you're talking about pathetic look at the carve job on that pumpkin. What's it even supposed to be?"

Mimi frowned, "Oh. Well it was supposed to be Yama…" She shrugged and stood, wiping the palm of her hands on her jeans.

Tai smirked, "Really? Then it's perfect. You nailed it."

Yamato rolled his eyes, not in the mood for Tai to change the subject, "Why not have a movie night and all of us come over and you invite her too?"

"Yeah I don't want you guys to be there while I awkwardly interact with her," Tai mumbled, eyeing Mimi as the woman brought her phone to her ear.

"Hi Sora," she said, Tai's eyes widening, "Yeah I was just calling to see if you were still free after your game tomorrow? Awesome… Taichi is having a movie night and you know how men are… Yeah I know… I'm inviting you to save him any embarrassment… You know how men get… Oh trust me…. He is, isn't he!" Mimi giggled.

"What is she saying," Tai whispered frantically, Mimi silencing him with a finger.

"So you're free? Yay! I'll just walk across the hall and get you before the movie starts. Mhm! Okay see you at your game! Bye!" Mimi hung up the phone and turned to the group, "So what movie are we watching tomorrow night?"

—

**-Game Day-**

Sora sat with Eri, her eyes following Tai as he sprinted after a through ball passed to him by Nori. He reached his foot out, touching the ball just enough to roll it into the goal. The crowd cheered, Sora biting her thumb nail as she sighed.

Eri nudged her, "Not going to cheer?"

Sora shrugged, "I'm just nervous for our game is all… And that puts him one goal ahead of me…"

Nori gave Tai a high five as they headed back to their positions. The ref blew the whistle, the game resuming with ten minutes left.

"You'll pass him up. Easy," Rini said, her ankle wrapped in a blue cast and propped on the rail. Her crutches leaning against the empty chair next to her. "But seriously," Rini said with a smirk, "Please beat these boys in goals. That goes for everyone. I'm sick and tired of them thinking that gives them bragging rights."

Kazue shrugged, "We get scored on less than them, but no one ever talks about that."

Sora smiled, "I think that's more impressive than goals scored, Kazue. I couldn't do what you do on the field, but I'm sure you could easily score a few if you were in my position."

Kazue shook her head, "No no. I'm actually a terrible shot. I get too nervous."

Sora nodded, "I definitely get that."

The ref blew the whistle, signaling the end of the game. The men's team won 3-1, Tai scoring two and Nori scoring one. This put Nori and Sora in second place for goals scored in a season, just behind Tai.

The women stood, gathering their bags to head over to the sidelines.

Sora stepped onto the field, stepping into Tai's way as he made his way to where Izzy was saving seats.

"Good game, Taichi," she said, "Too bad you won't be ahead of me in goals for long. Enjoy the lead while you can."

Tai smiled nervously, "Oh hey, Sor. Y-Yeah. Thanks it feels good to be ahead. Haven't heard from you in two days how are you?"

Sora tilted her head, confused, "I would've called if I had your number. I knocked you door yesterday afternoon but I'm guessing you weren't home." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Oh yeah, I was at Mimi's… Freaking out because…" He stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, glancing down at Sora and waiting for a reply.

Sora nodded, becoming concerned as Tai began to fidget with the straps of his soccer bag, "Yeah she called me. Are you okay? You seem off."

"I-I'm fine! Just tired from running," He chuckled nervously, "Movie night tonight, right?"

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh. I'll be there." She smirked as a red tint began to cover his cheeks, "Tai are you sure you're okay? You seem nervous…" She teased.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," he attempted a smile, quickly turning from Sora as he noticed her knowing smirk, "I don't want to lose my seat good luck!" He turned, hurrying towards Izzy.

"Huh," Kazue said, "I think you made him short circuit."

Sora shrugged, "I'm entertained to say the least."

Kazue nodded in agreement, "Yeah I almost want to slip you some money to watch him interact with you again."

The women glanced at each other, laughing as Eri yelled at them to hurry and join the team in warm up.

—

"Wow," Izzy said as Tai sat down next to him, the brunette burying his face in the palm of his hands, "That was quite the show."

"I'll say," Nori said in his usual seat, smirking at his teammate.

"How nervous did I look?" Tai said, his voice muffled by his hands.

Izzy shrugged, "Well…" He paused, "I mean… I would be nervous too…?" His tone increased in pitch. Izzy had gone home from Mimi's yesterday and felt bad for giving Taichi a hard time.

"Terribly nervous," Nori said, enjoying Tai struggling to interact with a woman, "The great Tai Kamiya is a player no more. How does it feel to be the one chasing?"

Tai sighed, rubbing his hands down his face before leaning back against the plastic back of the chair, "That bad, huh? The worst thing is is that she knows. I saw it in her eyes. She knows she has all of the power here."

Izzy chuckled, "She doesn't seem like the type to abuse that power. Too nice."

Tai glanced at Izzy, shaking his head, "No you didn't see the smirk."

"Hey boys!" Mimi's voice said from behind them as she skipped down the stairs of the stadium with Yamato's hand gripped in her own. Yamato's feet close behind her's as he tried to keep up. He kept his gaze on the stairs, praying he didn't trip.

"Did you guys win?" Mimi asked, sitting next to Tai, "You seem tense. Was the game bad? You lose?"

"You didn't watch our game but you came for the women's?" Tai said teasingly, smirking as Mimi glared at him, "Nah we won, Meems. You're looking at the top goal scorer of the season." Yamato rolled his eyes, Tai shooting him a wink in response.

"Wow, Taichi," Yamato said, "You want us to move over a few seats so you and your ego can fit?"

"How original," Tai replied.

"Oh…" Mimi said, looking disappointed, "That's too bad that you're ahead now. I doubt it'll last that long, but still." She turned her attention to the field, "Did we miss warm up and make it just in time for the game?"

Izzy shook his head, "No, Mimi. The game starts in 47 minutes. There's a countdown on the scoreboard."

She sat back in her chair, scrunching her face, "Dang. I was really hoping we'd make a 'just in time' type of entrance." Mim began to bounce her leg.

Tai glanced at her foot, "Nervous?"

Mimi shrugged, "Maybe."

"Not as nervous as our boy Tai was about five minutes ago," Nori said, Tai turning around in his seat.

"Why do you even sit with us?" Tai said quickly, Nori laughing as he gripped Tai's shoulder, "Just messing with you, Tai."

"Nervous?" Mimi said, pushing herself into the conversation. Yamato sat at the end of the chairs, smirking as he opened a water bottle. He chuckled, "Sora must've finally talked to him."

"Did she?" Mimi asked, "That's great! Did she say anything about tonight?"

Tai shrugged, "I don't remember. I think I blacked out if I'm being honest."

Yamato threw his head back and let out a loud laugh, Mimi nudging him as she held back her own chuckle, "Yama, let him be. He has a little crush."

"I'm getting a pretzel," Tai muttered as he stood, nudging Yamato's knee with his own as he squeezed by.

Yamato sighed, smiling as he settled into his seat. He wrapped his arm around Mimi's shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

Tai returned with a pretzel just in time for the game to start.

Mimi gasped, "Sora is out there."

Izzy nodded, "Great observation, Mimi. She is." And with a blow of the whistle, the referee signaled the start of the first half.

Aiya, the center forward, passed the ball back to Sora in the center midfielder position. Sora sent the ball to Eri on the right side of the field, Eri running down the sideline and meeting the ball right before it could roll out of bounds.

"Ball!" Aiya called, Mimi standing from her seat as Eri pulled her leg back to pass Aiya the ball. A defender from the opposing team stepped in front of Eri's pass, stealing the ball before sending it to the center midfielder on her team.

"Damnit…" Mimi cursed, not settling back down into her seat.

The center midfielder trapped the ball and turned right into Sora. Sora's shouldered the girl, taking the ball back. Sora glanced up, turning to pass the ball to her left.

Mimi bit her nails, the others silent with anticipation.

Just before Sora passed the ball, the center midfielder on the other team grabbed the edge of Sora's jersey and tugged her to the ground. The ref didn't call a foul and the other team won the ball back.

"Wait…" Mimi said, "That's illegal! Ref! Are you kidding me?!"

"Seriously ref, c'mon!" Tai yelled, standing next to Mimi as he shoved another bite of pretzel into his mouth.

Sora quickly stood, the other team moving the ball down the field quickly. Kazue prepped, but did not lunge fast enough to stop the ball before the right forward kicked it in.

"That's bullshit," Tai muttered as he sat back down in his chair, "That was an obvious foul."

Nori smirked, "You pull that all of the time. You're a jersey tugger. You only care because it's-"

Tai stopped listening as the ref blew the whistle for the game to resume.

The ball was sent to Eri again, Eri cutting the ball and getting around the other forward. Sora checked in, calling for the ball. Eri passed the ball, the defender intercepting it before it could get to Sora. Sora moved quick, stealing the ball back.

"Yes!" Mimi said, Yamato clapping from his seat.

Sora dribbled to the center of the other team's half, glancing up and passing to Aiya. Sora continued her run forward, Aiya passing her the ball with one touch.

"Shoot it!" Nori yelled, Sora shooting the ball.

The ball soared through the air quickly, but hit the top cross bar before bouncing back and over Sora's head.

The women got a few more shots off, but none were placed well enough to end in a goal. The first half ended, the opposing team up by one.

"I'm going to lose it," Mimi said, pacing between the chairs and the guard rail.

Tai shook his head, "No the other team is playing smart. They must've discussed the last game and know not to give Sora space to shoot."

Nori nodded in agreement, "I noticed that. And they keep 'fouling' her in the center."

"Then shouldn't the ref be responsible and good at their job and call the foul?" Mimi said, a hint of annoyance on her voice.

Tai shrugged, "It's not necessarily a foul, Meems. The other team is just trying to get into Sora's head. Take the center midfielder out of the game and you lose your control tower."

"Huh," Mimi said, glancing at the team, "Do you think Sora is off of her game?" Everyone shrugged.

Izzy sighed, "We've really only watched her play a game, Mimi. She seems fine to me. They just need a goal and they'll get their momentum going."

The teams began to gather on the field again, the ref blowing the whistle to begin the second half.

The other team started with the ball. Another midfielder quickly stole the ball and sent the ball to Aiya. Aiya trapped the ball and dribbled towards the end of the other team's half. She lifted her leg to send a cross, the ball bouncing out off of the other defender's leg, meaning a corner kick.

Eri shot a thumbs up at the team and ran across the field to take the kick. The women gathered around the edge of the other team's eighteen, preparing to make their runs to the goal.

"This is in," Nori said, "Eri places amazing crosses it'd be crazy if all of them missed. Just takes a foot to hit the ball." Mimi nodded, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Eri raised her arm, signaling for the team to start their runs to the goal. Sora delayed her run, hanging back for any rebounds. Aiya ran to the far post and Mei to the near post. Eri kicked the ball, the ball passing in front of the goal. Before anyone could reach it, a defender headed the ball out.

"Spoke too soon," Nori said, stretching his arms above his head.

The ball bounced out to the top of the eighteen. Sora moved quick, shooting the ball back towards the goal with one touch. The ball slipped into the top right corner, falling against the back of the net.

Eri jumped excitedly, pointing at Sora as she smiled. Sora smiled back, Aiya shaking her shoulders as they jogged back to their positions to start again

The crowd cheered, Tai standing from his chair to give Mimi a high five.

"Wow! Did you see that?!" Mimi asked, laughing from her excitement, "Woo. Forgot to breathe for a second."

Yamato smiled at her, clapping with Izzy.

The game continued, Aiya scoring a second goal off of a long ball sent by Mei.

"Close game," Nori said, "The ref was letting a lot slide."

Mimi let out a long breath, "Wow. See, Tai? Your games just don't have that excitement."

Tai rolled his eyes, "How do you know, Mimi? When we the last time you watched one of my games."

"I've seen one," she held up one finger, "And that was more than enough. No offense, Nori."

"None taken. Women's soccer is more fun to watch anyway," Nori said, waving goodbye as he walked onto the field to join up with Rini.

"See even one of your own agrees," Mimi said, turning her attention to Yamato, "Ready to go? Movie night is in about two hours or so…" She looked to Tai, "And you and Sora are getting snacks, right?"

"We're what?" Sora said as she walked up to join them after the team meeting.

"Grabbing snacks!" Mimi said with an innocent smile, "Taichi knows the best stores for movie snacks."

"I do?" Tai said, Mimi nodding frantically.

Sora scrunched her face, "But I just finished a game… And I'm super sweaty."

"You can be sweaty together. And I'm sure you don't smell as bad as Tai," Yamato said, smirking as he caught Tai rolling his eyes.

"I don't smell that bad, Yamato," Tai said, "It's called being an athlete. A victory smell."

Yamato sighed, "I don't think I'd call that smell victorious."

"Sora," Izzy asked, "Where does this put you in relation to top goal scorer of the season."

Sora shrugged, "I think we're tied now. I couldn't get a second goal. So happy Aiya did though," she smiled at Izzy, "Don't worry. We'll beat him at the end of it all."

"So you two are conspiring against me," Tai said, glancing between Sora and Izzy.

Sora shrugged, smirking, "You make it too easy. Izzy gave me a deal I couldn't turn down."

Izzy gave her a thumbs up, "Anything to watch him lose just once. That's all I want."

"Enough of this," Tai said, grabbing his bag, "I guess we're grabbing snacks. Let's get going."

Sora chuckled, following Tai up the stairs and out of the stadium. She gave him a small smile as he looked over his shoulder to check if she was following, giggling as he quickly turned forward to hide his blush.

**—**

**Thank you so much for reading! :) Again, next chapter is focusing on snack shopping (c'mon, cute), and movie night. Who's ready? Thank you again for everyone's support through all of this. Writing this has been insanely fun and almost therapeutic.**

**\- Moon**


	7. Open Books

**Hey everyone! I am sorry for the delay on this chapter. First, the end of the semester really got to me (but we got through, lads!). Second, my laptop completely died and there was no hope in saving it so I had to get a completely new one (meaning my outline of Long Shot did not save). And yes, there is a third, believe it or not, an old shower drain plug fell down my pipes and a section of the floor of my apartment had to go to salvage the shower drains.**

**ANYWAY, nevertheless we persisted, and I hope you all enjoy this fun chapter! I loved writing it, regardless of probably making some unintentional changes to my story. I wanted to also say thank you to the support of those of you that have been reading. It means so much to hear that you are enjoying this!**

Chapter 7: Open Books

**-Juji's Sweets-**

Sora smiled as Tai's long legs kept him a little ahead of her as she followed him to a corner store to pick up snacks for the movie night. He pulled the door open, Sora flashing him a smile and giggling as a soft pink crawled up his neck to paint his cheeks. She had never had this power over any man before, and man was she loving it.

"So," Tai asked, clearing his throat as he tried his best to regain his composure, "What snacks do you want for tonight?" He twisted the cap on his water bottle, bringing it to his lips as he took a long drink.

Sora shrugged, "Are you one of the choices?"

Tai coughed, choking as he struggled to keep the water in his mouth. Sora smirked, patting his back between his shoulder blades softly. "Jeez," she said, "I didn't mean to make you choke. Um, I was kidding anyway. Are you okay?" Worry tinged the edge of her words, "I'll make a mental note to not joke like that with you anymore." She blushed, looking away as she felt guilty for making him die in the middle of a snack store.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his brown eyes catching her crimson. He shook his head, breaking out into a grin, "No don't stop your jokes," he chuckled, "I just wasn't expecting you to pull a joke like that…" he paused, pinning her under his chocolate gaze, "But if you were being serious… That could be arranged."

It was Sora's turn to blush under his gaze. She averted her eyes to the ground, "Oh no that won't be necessary… Do you like Pocky?" _Where did all of your power go?_ She rolled her eyes at her moment of weakness as she turned down an aisle.

"Sor," Tai said as he followed her, "Are you okay?" She glanced up, being greeted by his smirk. She already knew where he was going with this. "You seem… Nervous," his smirk turned into a grin as Sora shook her head.

"And why would I be nervous, Taichi?" She smirked back before turning her attention to the candy-stocked shelves to her left. Her fingers danced along the tops of the candy boxes before stopping on a yellow box with some kind of gummy fruit.

Tai shrugged, "Because you're in my presence. No other reason."

Sora scoffed playfully, "Oh," she shook her head, "We must have different definitions of nervous. I think I'm feeling… Irritated."

He reached above her, grabbing a few bags of popcorn, "And what would your definition be? I'm sure there aren't many…"

Sora turned around, coming face to face with his chest. Her eyes slowly travelled up his body, Sora hoping he couldn't tell that she was holding her breath. "I think you fit my definition pretty well after your game today," she said.

Tai's muscles tensed under his uniform. _Busted_ , Sora thought as she looked up at him, waiting for his response.

"Well," he said, stuttering, "I mean… I was just tired. Aren't you tired after your games?"

She shook her head, "No not like you, I guess. I happen to have amazing stamina."

It was Tai's turn to pin her under his gaze. He glanced down, "Oh?" The suggestive glint in his eye pushed Sora to shoulder out of the small space between him and the shelves.

She busied herself, hoping the others liked her choices of snacks. _Chips… Candy… Drinks…_ She shrugged, placing the basket on the counter to pay. Tai quickly joined her, placing his basket next to hers as he quickly pulled a card from his wallet and passed it to the cashier.

"Taichi," Sora said, "You don't have to pay for all of the snacks."

Tai gave the cashier a smiled, the young girl giggling as she passed him his receipt and said a quiet 'have a good day'. Sora grabbed one of the bags, the young girl gasping.

"I know you!" She said, her smile turning from flirtatious to excitement.

Sora's eyes widened, "R-Really? How? School? If we have a class together, I'm sorry."

The girl shook her head, "No no. My mom watches the college games every Friday! You're amazing."

Sora gave her a smile. The woman had never been recognized for her sport, "Oh! Thank you. That means a lot."

The girl nodded, "I hope to buy your jersey one day."

Sora shook her head quickly, "Maybe! I don't know if I'm good enough to go that far…"

"You are much too humble. You should learn a thing or two from me," Tai muttered to Sora as he grabbed her hand, "Great talking to you!" He said to the cashier, the girl waving at Sora as he tugged her out of the store.

"Taichi!" She said, "I didn't get to tell her goodbye…" Sora glanced back at the shop.

Tai glanced back at her as he pulled her into an alleyway. He let her catch her breath from running to keep up with him. "I wanted to be the first person to tell you I'm proud of you and can't wait to watch you play professionally though," he shrugged, "That's why we had to get out of there. She was stealing my thunder."

Sora rolled her eyes, "Oh c'mon."

"Do you think you're good? At soccer," He suddenly asked, not letting Sora weasel her way out of the space between him and the wall.

Sora felt like a deer in headlights. Sure, she thought she was good, but she was always lacking in the confidence needed to be her best. Her head was always full of self-doubt and she was sure her ability to score goals was just mostly due to luck.

"I…" She closed her mouth, thinking about the best way to respond to his question. Her eyes avoided his face again, "I mean… I know I'm not bad but… I just…" She bit her bottom lip out of nerves.

His fingers brushed her chin, guiding her gaze back up to his, "You're great or you wouldn't be here or getting recognized," Tai felt her tense under his touch, her breath caught in her throat as she looked up through her eyelashes. He glanced at her lips, knowing she stole a look at his. He leaned closer, electricity coursing through him.

"I guess I am great," her voice brought him back to Earth, their lips a breath apart, "She didn't even recognize you…" She said just above a whisper, her lips pulling into a wide smile as he let out a long sigh and threw his head back.

"Sora now of all times you decide to roast me," he said, making her laugh.

"Sorry I wanted to say it before I forgot it," she said, letting herself rest against the wall behind her.

Tai shook his head, "Is that what you were thinking about during that whole moment?"

"I said I was sorry," she let out one last chuckle, "My mind wanders when I'm nerv-" Her eyes widened as she shut her mouth quickly.

"What was that?" Tai smirked, "When you're nervous?"

He leaned in again, Sora suddenly aware of how hard the wall was and how her uniform clung to her body. She took a deep breath, "Well?" She said when he didn't lean further.

Tai shrugged, pushing off from the wall, "We're going to be late." He grabbed the bags of snacks, "C'mon we have a 15-minute walk ahead of us."

Sora blinked, "You really aren't going to kiss me?" She grabbed her soccer bag and flung it over her shoulder.

Tai glanced back at her, watching as she jogged to catch up with him, "Oh? Did you want me to?"

Sora smiled, giving him a wink. The breath left his lungs as she followed the crowd across the street to their apartment building.

**-Tai's Apartment-**

Tai flipped a dark blue towel over his head and dried his wet hair. He was happy Sora agreed to showering before the others came over for movie night – As much as Tai said he liked the smell of being an athlete, it wasn't always the most appealing. A knock sounded from the front door of his apartment. Tai stepped into a pair of sweats and hurried to the door.

"Are we late?" Mimi asked, Yamato and Izzy in tow behind her as she stepped through his doorway. She gasped, holding her hand up to cover Tai's bare torso, "Oh my gosh, Tai. _Please_ put a shirt on before I lose my lunch."

"What you don't like what you see? You're the first complaint I've ever gotten," he said, "Yamato and Izzy never complain."

Mimi shook her head, "He's just so shirtless. Is this how you're planning to answer the door when Sora knocks?"

Tai smirked, "Maybe… I'm sure she wouldn't have as much to complain about as you seem to do."

"Put a shirt on, asshole," Yamato said from the couch, already claiming the far corner, "You're scaring Izzy!"

Tai glanced at Izzy as the man settled into the black armchair. Izzy looked to Yamato, getting the signal. He opened his mouth, faking a terrified scream as he covered his eyes with his hands, "P-Please… Don't make me look at him again… I-I…" He peaked over his hands, "Ah!"

Knowing he lost, Tai stomped off to his bedroom, "I was going to put one on anyway…" He muttered, Mimi finally putting her hand down.

She smiled, pleased that Tai listened. Settling next to Yamato, she cuddled against his side, "I love pushing his buttons."

Yamato nodded, "And that's what made me fall in love with you."

"I can push his buttons," Izzy said, "Then would you love me too?"

Yamato smiled, "I already love you, Iz. I don't think it's possible to love you anymore."

Izzy smiled back, "… I think I actually needed to hear that," he threw his legs up onto Tai's coffee table, "What movie are we watching anyway?"

Mimi sighed, "I was thinking Titanic."

"God no," Tai said as he joined them on the couch, "My apartment. No Titanic allowed in here."

Mimi pouted, "Fine… I'd say one of your scary movies since it's October, but I don't want to terrify Sora on her first official hang out with all of us."

Izzy nodded, "Yes. Please don't make us watch a scary movie…" Izzy was never down for scary movies. Tai and Yamato always pushed for them and Mimi seemed to be indifferent. It took a lot to scare that woman.

A knock sounded from the door. "Oh!" Mimi said, "Taichi go answer it's Sora. I texted her to come over whenever."

Tai stood, "Okay fine fine." He opened the door. Sora stood in the hall. His brown eyes took her in from head to toe and then back up again, "Well one of us is going to have to change," Tai said.

Sora gave him a confused look, "What do you mean…" She took him in, his ADIDAS sweats matching her own. Even down to the soccer program t-shirt, "Okay this is kind of funny… Is it weird? Should I go change?"

Tai broke out in laughter, "No it's awesome. Mimi is going to love it." He pulled her in, the scent of lavender following her. Tai took a deep breath, hoping she didn't notice him lean in closer to her hair. _Lavender is my new favorite smell_ , he thought as he smiled to himself.

"Sora!" Mimi said, springing from the couch to hug her, "Did you guys plan to match? So cute."

Sora shook her head, "No it's just a weird coincidence. Oh!" Sora pulled a few movies from her bag, "I wasn't sure what you guys wanted to watch, but I brought over some movies to choose from. Since it's October I thought horror was the way to go…" She set the movies on the kitchen bar, "But I am not picky so." Yamato joined them, him and Mimi sifting through Sora's collection.

"Quite a collection," Yamato said, "And I thought Tai and I had every scary movie."

Sora shrugged, "I like the adrenaline. Growing up my mom and I would watch Halloween and then turn off all of the lights and hide in the house and…" She shook her head, "Sounds stupid, but it's scary in the country."

Izzy looked over Sora's shoulder, letting out a defeated yell. "Noooo, Sora!" He grabbed her arm as he melted to the ground, "You were supposed to be different than the rest."

Sora patted his head, "Why don't you pick, Izzy?"

Mimi shook her head, "Don't worry about him. He thought the Lion King was scary."

"Stop picking on Izzy," Tai said as he picked up Sora's copy of Saw, "The hyenas give off creepy vibes, okay?"

"Thank you," Izzy said as he stood. He began breathing exercises, Sora glancing over her shoulder at him. Izzy looked at her, "I'm lowering my heart rate now, so I don't flatline during the movie." Sora nodded in understanding, "Smart."

"I want to watch…" Mimi said as her fingers hovered above the pile, "This one." She picked up Insidious, the color draining from Tai and Yamato's faces.

"Based off of their reactions, Mimi," Izzy said, "I say no." His face the color of a white sheet.

Sora chuckled, "Insidious is a great pick, Meems."

Mimi smiled, the expression evil, "Oh. Oh, this is going to be good. Is this the one you guys watched and then had a two week-long sleepover after?" She looked between Tai and Yamato, "Put the movie in," She said to Tai, waving the movie in front of his face.

Tai took a deep breath as he grabbed the movie and walked towards his DVD player with a defeated stance. Sora followed with the bags of snacks. She emptied them out onto the coffee table, Mimi gasping excitedly, "Finally someone else with a sweet tooth…"

Mimi grabbed a pack of Pocky as she sat next to Sora on Tai's couch. "Want some?" Mimi said as she tilted the box towards Sora.

Sora grabbed two, "Most definitely."

Izzy settled back into the armchair. Yamato shot Mimi a weird glance as he sat into the opposite corner of the couch. With Mimi next to Sora, that leaves only one spot next to him. He smirked to himself, relaxing as he waited for Tai to realize he wouldn't be sitting next to the redhead.

Tai pressed the on button, grabbing the remote as the main menu of the movie filled his TV screen. He turned, giving Mimi a weird look as his eyes darted between the space next to her and Sora. Mimi returned his look, "What? Come sit and press play already. Us ladies want to be scared."

Tai's mouth twisted into an annoyed smirk, "Don't let me keep you waiting, Mimi." He sat in the empty space, Yamato smirking as he yawned and stretched his arm around Tai's shoulder, "No," Tai said, swatting Yamato's hand off of him. Yamato let out a laugh, there was nothing the blonde loved more than watching Tai grow aggravated.

"You heard the crowd! Press play," Yamato said, nudging Tai with his elbow. Tai nudged him back and pressed play.

**-1 Hour In-**

"That!" Izzy yelled, his finger pointing to the red face of a demon on the screen, "That is not okay!" He grabbed a pillow, pulling it close to his chest as he jumped again.

"I don't remember this being so…" Yamato said, swallowing nervously.

"Scary?" Tai finished, his breath hitching in his throat as he did his best not to jump.

Sora glanced over at them, Yamato's arm tightly linked in Tai's as they watched, their eyes glued to the screen. Mimi had fallen asleep next to her, the girl's head tilted back on the couch cushion with her mouth opened slightly. Sora nudged her, frowning as Mimi didn't even stir. _Heavy sleeper. I'm jealous._ The move was scary, but Sora had seen it so many times that the effect had worn off. She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"Whyyyy are they calling the demon to come forward?" Izzy asked, groaning into the pillow as the movie characters chanted for the demon to show itself.

The demon appeared on screen again, the men yelling in surprise.

Mimi stirred, her eyes opening as she yawned, "Jeez can't you boys let a lady get her sleep? There's not one scary thing about this movie." She looked around the room, stopping on Tai's death grip on Yamato's wrist, "Hands off my man," She said, Tai immediately letting go of Yamato.

"You weren't comforting him, so I stepped up," Tai muttered, sinking back into the couch.

Mimi rolled her eyes, "I was sleeping because this movie is so… Uneventful…" She looked at Izzy, smiling as he peaked over the edge of the pillow. "Sora is also bored out of her mind," Mimi said, Sora's chin resting in the palm of her hand as she stared blankly at the screen.

"What?" Sora asked, "I'm just tired." The credits began to roll, Sora stretching her arms above her head.

Mimi cleared her throat, letting out a quick, high scream. The others jumped, Yamato falling from the couch to the floor, Izzy seeming like he was holding back tears. Tai clenched his chest, "Why?! Mimi, why?! So unfair during a movie like this."

Mimi shrugged, "What. The movie is over. I wanted to wake Sora up… Sorry it had to be at your expense."

Sora laughed, "Mimi, I think you killed Yamato." She pointed at the blonde, Yamato catching his breath as he kneeled on the ground.

"I am never coming to another movie night," Izzy said as he shakily let go of the pillow. He stretched his hands, his knuckles white from gripping the pillow so hard.

"You and me both," Yamato said as he finally stood.

Mimi smirked, "Babies…" She sighed, "Well I think that's enough for the night. Yama let's go. Izzy? Did you want us to walk with you? You seem shaken."

Izzy nodded as he silently stood from the couch. He looked at Sora, "Don't ever bring movies over again." Sora nodded, trying to hide her smile as she stood from the couch, "Okay okay. I'm sorry."

"Bye everyone!" Mimi said, "Tai, organize your shoe rack it's a mess."

"Goodbye, Mimi," Tai said as he opened his front door, "You're always such a pleasure." Mimi gave him a forced smile, "Wish I could say the same."

Tai closed his door and shook his head as he helped Sora gather her movies that were scattered on the counter, "She's always a pain after she wakes up from a nap… How did she even fall asleep during that movie?"

Sora shrugged, "It's really not that scary… I thought everyone had more of a backbone than that." She smirked as Tai muttered to himself quietly. She grabbed the last movie and slung her tote bag over her shoulder, "I'll see you later. Thanks for inviting me… Even though it was through Mimi."

"Oh! Wait up I want to show you something," Tai said, Sora stopping before reaching for the door.

Tai glanced towards her, "Can you turn off the lights?" Sora gave him a weird look, "I promise I'm not trying to scare you." Sora shrugged, the reasoning enough for her. She flipped the switch next to her on the wall as Tai turned off the TV, drowning the apartment in darkness.

Sora bounced on the balls of her feet as she listened to Tai digging through his room in the back of the apartment. "Tai? Did you need help?" He didn't reply. As Sora began to walk to his room to make sure he was okay, Tai came rushing out of the door.

"Go stand by my coffee table," he said as he followed behind her and placed something in the middle of the table. He grabbed the cord and plugged into the wall, his mouth pulling down into a frown as nothing happened, "Huh… That's not good…"

"Maybe press the power button?" Sora said as she leaned forward, pressing the glowing red button.

The room became filled with glowing blue stars from the projector. Sora looked around, "Stars…?" She said, confused about what Tai was trying to pull.

Tai nodded, "You said you missed the stars, right? And you're not going to see any out there," he pointed a thumb out the window, "So, I saw this at the store the day after the party." The two stood in silence, Sora's attention on the ceiling. Tai cleared his throat, "Ya know... It's pretty lame now that I'm really thinking about it."

Sora chuckled, "You did this for me?" She looked around the room, taking in the blue light. No one had ever cared this much about something she missed.

Tai rubbed the back of his neck, "Yep I did… I know. I can't believe it either but here we are." He watched her, smiling as she let out a laugh. "If we lay down on the rug, it'll be like we're stargazing," he said through chuckles as he kneeled down and laid on his back.

Sora glanced at him. She slipped the bag from her shoulder and joined him on the rug, her head next to his. She laughed, "Are we too old to do this?"

Tai smirked, "Nah. Never too old to do anything." He pointed at the ceiling at a random cluster of glowing stars, "Ah, my favorite constellation."

Sora nodded, "Yeah that's a good one."

The two enjoyed the comfortable silence. Tai took a deep breath as he decided to break it, "So," he watched her out of the corner of his eyes, "Why won't you let me take you on a date?"

Sora bit her bottom lip, "You really want to know all of my baggage?"

Tai smiled, "I want to know everything about you."

Sora kept her eyes on the stars that danced across the ceiling, noticing the jump of her heart from his reply. _Maybe you can trust him._ "Okay…" She took a deep breath, "Long story short. I grew up in a household that didn't give a great representation of what a relationship is. My father left when I was young, and I watched my mother deal with the aftermath…" She paused then glanced at him, "I don't want to give anyone the power to make me feel like that."

Tai saw the sadness behind her eyes, "I won't," he tested it with a smile.

Her focus returned to the ceiling, "How can you be so sure?"

"Ready for my baggage?" He said, hoping to ease the tension that seemed to creep into the room. Sora didn't reply, Tai taking that as a yes.

"I got cheated on so I have trust issues," Tai said, Sora's head turning quickly in his direction, "I know it's hard to believe someone would cheat on me." He smirked, chuckling nervously.

Sora shook her head, "I was going to ask if you were okay, but you seem to be doing fine," she looked back up to the ceiling.

"Sorry… I think joking about it is how I've been coping," he said, "I would give anything to not feel the way she made me feel… Like I wasn't enough or even worth the try," he sighed, "I guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't want to make anyone feel the way she made me feel."

Sora turned on her side and held her chin in her hand as she watched him. Tai mirrored her after she settled. They stared at each other, Sora searching Tai's eyes for any hint of him being insincere. Tai broke the silence again, "Want to know something though?"

"Hm," Sora replied.

"For some reason, I know I can trust you with my heart," he smirked at how it made the edges of her lips tilt up against her will.

She did her best to keep from smiling, "That's the cheesiest shit anyone has ever said to me."

Tai shrugged, "Yeah, but I can tell you liked it."

Sora shook her head, chuckling softly. Tai smiled at his victory.

"I wanted you to kiss me in the alleyway today," Sora said, holding his gaze.

Tai's eyes widened in surprise, "R-Really? I couldn't tell," he tried to sound smooth with a joke, knowing Sora saw right through him.

She nodded, sighing dramatically, "But then you didn't. Such a disappointment."

It was Tai's turn to roll his eyes. He shrugged, "I was just waiting for the perfect moment. I didn't want to waste it in an alleyway."

"Whatever," Sora said, smirking as she sat up and stretched her arms above her head, "It's okay if you're nervous. I understand." Her smirk widened to a grin as Tai let out an annoyed groan.

He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, "Fine fine. Yes, Sora, you make me insanely nervous. You want to know why?" She nodded. He turned around to face her, "No one has ever made me feel the way you make me feel. And that is more than enough to make me nervous."

Sora held her breath. She had never had anyone confess to feeling like this about her. Had anyone ever felt like this about her? _Am I feeling the same way?_ She watched him lean closer to her, Sora feeling her heart beat out of her chest. His fingers brushed softly over her jaw, his hand caressing the back of her neck as he finally pressed his lips to hers.

**Thank you again for reading! Let me know what you think :) I recently bought a star projector type of thing, so I just HAD to write one in. Happy Holidays everyone. Please stay safe.**

**Moon**


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